Locked Away
by potterfan36041
Summary: Three years after fleeing Egypt, the Oliver's have been found again and this time Carla is after something much more precious. But who is really behind it all? And will a new set of rangers be able to stop them? Sequel to Scare Me.
1. Chapter 1

_Three Years Later_

"Your turn," Kim muttered as she hit Tommy over the stomach and he groaned as he rolled out of bed to attend to their wailing child. Their second child, Chloe, was far more vocal than Wyatt had been at four months. He had learned to entertain himself at a young age and had only cried for food and a diaper change, Chloe, on the other hand, cried at a drop of a hat.

"Hey sweetie," Tommy whispered as he walked into the nursery and picked up the wailing girl from her crib and gently rocked her in his arms. "It's okay. You hungry?"

In his half awakened state, Tommy stumbled down the stairs to the kitchen and grabbed a bottle from the fridge before heading into the living room. It was always helpful with Chloe to be able to rock her while she ate, otherwise she would be awake all night and he'd have to stay up with her. She had not quite gotten the hang of entertaining herself just yet.

"You're a good father," a voice said as Tommy stood up and looked back into the darkness. He recognized the voice, but he couldn't remember where it was from. There were a lot of voice's in his past that he had pushed to the far recesses of his mind. "It took a long time to track you down."

"Who are you?" Tommy asked as he focused his gaze to the corner of the room and waited for his answer. He was sure that if the person was revealing themselves, that they would have no problem with giving a name or a clue to a name.

"Someone you took something from," the voice said as Tommy let out a gasp in realization.

"Carla," Tommy muttered as she stepped out into the dim light and grinned. "Get out of here."

"I've come for your son, I thought you might like to be warned," Carla said as she slipped back off into the darkness and then disappeared. Tommy then ran up the stairs, placed Chloe in the bed next to Kimberly before he ran off to Wyatt's room. The boy was sound asleep in his bed and he let out a sigh of relief. He was scared to death that she would take him away and as he picked him up, he made a decision, a decision that he would most likely live to regret.

* * *

"Tommy, how did we wind up with the kids in our bed?" Kim asked as she got dressed for work and he played with them on the bed.

"Carla visited last night and we're going to have to do something," Tommy said as she gaped at him. She had not thought of that woman since Tommy had told her that he had handled the problem.

"Why do I get the feeling I'm not going to like what has to be done?" Kim asked as she pulled on her skirt and started buttoning her shirt.

"You won't, considering that it involves powers," Tommy said as Kim let out a sigh before she picked Chloe up and grabbed Wyatt by the hand.

"I'll get them breakfast while you get ready," Kim said as he gave her a quick hug before going into the bathroom to get ready.

"Mama," Wyatt said as Kim looked down at him and nodded. "Who's the lady?"

"What lady?" Kim asked in confusion as Wyatt pointed to the corner and Kim let out a shriek. "Go upstairs, go to Daddy."

"Kimberly, nice to see you again," Carla said as Kim held Chloe tight against her chest as she watched Wyatt run up the stairs. She was sure that Tommy had heard her shriek and would meet Wyatt on his way down. "Beautiful children."

"You are not welcome here," Kim said as she heard Tommy coming down the stairs and let out a sigh of relief. She couldn't fight while holding a baby in her arms, she wouldn't risk it.

"Of course I am," Carla said as she started towards Kim and a shield suddenly appeared around her, shocking her as Tommy placed Wyatt next to her and then continued down the stairs.

"What's that?" Carla asked as Tommy rubbed his hands together and looked back at his wife.

"Our protective powers, more accurately mine. If you were to try to get to any of them, you probably wouldn't make it back to whoever you're working with," Tommy said as Carla laughed.

"A change is coming and you have to choose a side Tommy. There will be no more of you sitting back and watching from the sidelines," Carla said as Tommy looked over at her and shook his head.

"Leave Carla, it's the last time I'll warn you," Tommy said as Carla laughed and the sparks flew from his hands as he rubbed them together. He could feel the slight fear coming out of her and saw the slight worry in Kim's eyes. Their raw powers were stronger than any that the world had ever seen, but they generally did not show themselves in this fashion.

"My boss wants the boy and we'll get him," Carla said with a sickly sweet smile and then she disappeared as Kim let out a strangled sob as she clutched Chloe even tighter and Wyatt wrapped his arms around her legs.

"I can't lose my children," Kim said as he walked over to her and wrapped her up in a strong hug. "I can't lose them, Tommy."

"Shh…it's going to be okay, I've got a plan," Tommy said as Kim lifted her head from his chest and stared up at him. She knew that tone, she knew the meaning of it all. "We have no choice, I mentor a team. They've got the youth to wear the uniform and we've got the experience to guide them down the right path."

"Call Billy, we're not going into work today," Kim said as she took a step away from him and he stared down at her. "We have no choice and we've only got one shot to keep them safe. We can't risk messing that up Tommy."

"Okay, you know they'll want to help," Tommy said as she nodded and walked Wyatt into the kitchen where she placed Chloe in her high chair and Wyatt in his booster seat.

"We're going to need all the help we can get to pull this off," Kim said as she started pulling out breakfast for the kids and a piece of fruit for herself.

"If anyone can, we can," Tommy said as he walked back out of the room to make the call in private. Kim agreed to the idea, now he had to convince the others that they really needed this, that the threat was really there.

* * *

"Hello, archeology department, Wolf Incorporated," Emily said as she picked up the phone and Tommy let out a sigh. He had hoped to reach Hayley or Austin, one of the more trusted employees, but this would have to do.

"This is Dr. Oliver, my wife and I will not be coming in today, we have a family emergency," Tommy said, calmly, as he heard Emily gasp.

"Dr. Cranston is in a meeting I'll give him your message as soon as he's out. I hope the babies will get better soon," Emily said as Tommy nodded and then looked back at Kim, who was attempting to feed both children.

"Thank you," Tommy said as he hung up and then walked back into the kitchen. He took the spoon from Kim and proceeded to feed Chloe breakfast. "We're going to have to re-open it."

"I know," Kim said with a sigh as Wyatt munched on his toast. "We sealed it pretty good, I don't see how we're going to get it open."

"Trust the fact that it's under that tile and that you'll be taking the kids to my Mom's in about an hour," Tommy said as she looked over at him in confusion. "It's Nana's day to take them. Why not let her and explain she'll need to keep them for a couple of days?"

"She can't protect them," Kim said as Tommy barely nodded as Chloe tossed a handful of baby food into his face and he took in a deep breath. "Then why take them there?"

"Because I'm betting on the fact that Carla will think that we'll keep them with us. She's seen how powerful we are and she's only a pawn in a game, someone else is really after us, someone more powerful," Tommy said, solemnly, as Kim nodded that she understood. The message had been sent to them and their actions were going to be watched, everything predicted, everything seen. They had no choice but to become the Power Rangers that everyone feared and that many believed were a mere legend.


	2. Chapter 2

"Kim, it's good to see you. Where's Tommy?" Gina asked as Kim walked in with Chloe and Wyatt.

"At home, I'm sorry to do this to you Gina, but can you watch the kids for us for a couple of days? We have some things to take care of and it's best that they not be around while we do it," Kim said as she placed the baby bag on the floor and then shifted Chloe to her other hip to put down Wyatt's bag.

"It's been a long time since I've seen you like this, Kimberly," Gina commented as the younger woman looked up at her in shock. "When you came home from Egypt, that was the last time you acted like this, whatever is going on, I'll keep them safe until you can take them back."

"Thanks, I have to go, I can't risk them associating this as anything other than a childcare drop off, I'll call this evening," Kim said as she kissed each of her children and then went back out. She had one more stop before she could return home and hoped Billy wouldn't mind.

* * *

"I thought you weren't going to be here today," Billy said as Kim slipped into his office and looked back at him.

"We've got a big problem Billy. They're after my son," Kim said as Billy's eyes widened. "Carla has been the only one to show herself, so far and Tommy's ready to take on another team."

"Another team? Kim, we can't just hand off these things to someone at a time of our choosing," Billy said as she let out a sigh and then forced a photo onto his desk. Tommy had been able to reproduce the effect from earlier and had taken the picture to show him what would happen if they didn't step in. "Wow. He did that?"

"With our unharnessed powers, yes," Kim said as Billy stood there in shock. He would not believe what he was seeing. Kim and Tommy's powers didn't do this, unless something had gone extremely wrong. "I know we've been reluctant, but they're coming after us, we've got no choice, we have to take a team."

"You are sure about this? Kim it's an awful lot for you to take on right now," Billy said as she crossed her arms and glared over at him.

"She said that they are coming after Wyatt. Tommy and I cannot do this by ourselves and although I'd love to not do this, we have no other option. We've got to protect our children and this is out only choice I was followed here Billy, so they are more human than monster right now, let's keep it that way," Kim said as she put her keys down on the table and looked up at him. "I need your car, you can bring mine to the house this afternoon, along with the powers."

"You're really in trouble, aren't you?" Billy asked as Kim nodded her head yes and he took her hands in his. "We'll find a way Kim, they're not going to hurt Chloe or Wyatt."

"I didn't ask for this when Zordon called us into this world," Kim said as he gathered her in a hug and she choked back the sobs.

"But you married the golden child, the one that was the best that anyone had ever seen. It was almost inevitable that you'd be involved in this for the rest of your life," Billy said as Kim shuddered. She couldn't imagine being without Tommy and everything in life had some sort of repercussion, the one she was living with was almost too much to handle.

"This is not how it's supposed to be!" Kim yelled as she beat his chest and the tears finally came. She knew she could never say this to Tommy because he wouldn't understand it and it would hurt him, so much. "We were supposed to retire, go back to a normal life, maybe hunt for gems again, but not this."

"It's okay, God knows that all of the others would have lost it well before now," Billy said as he closed his eyes. "That's why Zordon picked the two of you before he died. He knew what it would mean, what it would take to fight all of this. You and Tommy can give that, completely, you are the only ones that can. I provide a means to an end, that's all I am. I know it's hard, but hold on Kim, a day is coming when you and Tommy will be able to have a normal life."

"I can't lose my babies," Kim whispered as she shook and Billy let out a sigh. He couldn't imagine walking in to someone in his house and hearing that they were after Ryan and Shelby. He had no clue how he would react or what he'd do, but he'd do something. They way that this sounded, they were in for it and Tommy had to take this on, otherwise he'd chance losing the people most precious to him.

* * *

"Hey," Tommy whispered as Kim walked in the front door and she wiped her eyes as she removed her glasses. "I'm so sorry, Kim, if I could do anything to change this I would. You don't deserve this life, you deserve much better."

"I'm just scared," Kim whispered as he engulfed her in a hug and then gave her a gentle kiss. He didn't know how she continued to do this, continued to live with him and everything that came with him. When Zordon had told him that he'd be doing this until the next great ranger came along, he had avoided telling Kim. He was afraid of what she'd do, afraid to lose her, but over time it became obvious she'd have to know or he'd lose her trust. He couldn't risk that anymore than he could think of a life without her.

"What the hell is going on?" Jason asked as he barged in the front door to see Kim on the verge of a nervous breakdown and Tommy not in a much better state. "I get a call from Billy to leave the dojo and head here immediately. What's going on?"

"You shouldn't be here," Kim said pulling away from Tommy and the both of them stared at her in shock. "Someone followed me to work, there could be people out there monitoring who comes and goes. No one else needs to be indicated in this. I will not have other people's children put at risk because of this, because of us."

"That's why you came back in Billy's truck?" Tommy asked as Kim nodded her head yes and looked over as Jason. "Start calling people, tell them to turn back not to come."

"Tommy this is an emergency, people are after Wyatt and Chloe," Jason said as Tommy ignored him and started calling people. "Tommy!"

"No one else will be put in danger because of this!" Kim yelled as Jason looked at her and decided it was best to dial first and ask questions later. He knew her wrath and knew just how likely it would be that she'd kick his ass if he didn't start doing what Tommy was, right now.

"No, don't come, they're being watched," Jason said to every ranger he contacted as she heard Kim's verbal berating of Billy and was glad that no children were within earshot, she was certainly to a point where she wished to kick everyone's butt that got in her way.

"You will drive here tonight and then you can tell me if you are followed! If you think I'm paranoid after that, God help you!" Kim yelled as she slammed her phone shut, fuming as Jason and Tommy both exchanged a glance. Tommy then took a tentative step towards her and she quickly collapsed into his arms as sobs racked her body yet again.

"It's going to be okay," Tommy whispered as she wrapped her arms around him tightly and he gently rubbed her back in an attempt to calm her. She had not been this emotional since she had Chloe, but even he was very shaken up about this. If they were going after their kids, then what else would they go after? What else would they do to them?

"I know this might sound harsh, but we've got to crack that basement open quickly. There's no telling the damage that's been done since you've been down there last time," Jason said as Tommy looked over at him and shook his head that it could wait for a moment, at least until he got Kim back from her hysterics. They'd need their combined powers to reopen the Command Center and get it started up again. Kim would have to be calm to even attempt that.

"Whenever you're ready," Tommy said as he released her and she looked up at him with a weak smile. "I don't want to do this, but there is nothing we can do any different."

"I know," Kim said as she walked into the kitchen and looked down at the tiles. Her hands reached out and began to glow. She closed her eyes and began to undo what they had done all those years ago. She then felt Tommy's presence and him working on it as well. Neither of them ever thought this would happen again, but here they were and there was nothing they could do to change it.


	3. Chapter 3

"Nana!" Wyatt yelled as he ran up to Gina and wrapped his arms around her legs. He was old enough to sense that something was wrong and he was sure that it was something big. "Where's Mama?"

"Mama and Daddy are spending a couple days alone. You're going to stay here with me and Pop," Gina said as Wyatt stared up at her. "I know you miss Mama and Daddy."

"Yeah," Wyatt said as she picked him up and carried him with her as she went to check on Chloe, who was still napping. She had a very bad feeling about what was happening to Kim and Tommy, but knew better than to ask. Her son had a life that was all his own, a life that honestly scared her at times, if she was to be honest with herself.

"Gina!" Morgan yelled as he walked in the front door with his briefcase and saw a diaper bag still on the floor. Kim and Tommy usually would have picked up the kids by now, unless something had happened and knowing the two of them, anything could happen. "Hey, Wyatt."

"Pop!" Wyatt yelled happily as he ran to his grandfather and was promptly picked up in a bear hug.

"What's going on?" Morgan asked as Gina looked up at him and shrugged. She had not pestered Kim for answers, but her actions had been enough to make her see that this was serious.

"Kim asked if we could watch them for a couple of days, it seems like things are heating up in Reefside," Gina said as Morgan let out a sigh and shifted Wyatt to his other hip.

"Do you have any clue what might be going on?" Morgan asked as she shook her head no. "What has you daddy gotten himself into now?"

* * *

After several hours of firm concentration, the hatch sprung open and Kim and Tommy collapsed from the exertion it had taken to do that insignificant task. This had been the most pressing issue of the day to deal with and they had done it extremely well. After the meltdown, they had been able to focus, feel what needed to be done and at what time. Their bodies were honed in on each other and nothing more was needed. They had always had this sort of connection with their ranger powers, even when they were 'just friends' and when they 'hated each other', now that everything was smooted out, it was easier, far easier.

"Kim, Tommy," Jason said, hesitantly, as he watched the two of them lie motionless for longer than a few seconds. Tommy hesitantly began to move as he rolled over towards his wife and reached out for her.

"They were right," Billy said as he walked into the living room and then saw them sprawled on the kitchen floor. "What happened?"

"They reopened it, took damn near five hours to do it, but they did," Jason said as Billy stared at them and watched as Tommy pulled Kim closer without opening his eyes. "He still protects her."

"Their wills are so closely intertwined; I wouldn't be surprised if they didn't even have thoughts before acting any longer. They know each other too well," Billy said as he sat down at the kitchen table and let out a sigh. He then picked up an apple and took a bite. "We just have to wait for them to wake up."

"So, someone followed you too?" Jason asked as Billy nodded his head yes. That did not comfort him with what they were about to do, but there was no turning back, especially after the threat being made towards the children. If had been a threat made towards Kim or Tommy, they would have taken care of it in their own way, not like this. "So, it's not just some raving lunatic like normal?"

"In my opinion, it is mostly normal people that don't know what they are really working for. They just hold something against Kim and Tommy and we all know how many people that could be," Billy said as he let out a sigh. "We haven't faced anything like this in the past, that much is something that I am sure of."

"You're right, but they have. This sort of tracking is not unheard of to them. Carla has done it before to them and she is essential to whatever the master plan is now. They were supposed to be buried in our files, I'd say there is someone in our place that knows, knows far more than they should," Jason said as Billy nodded and then let out another sigh. The thought had already crossed his mind today, but he still did not want to think about it.

"How in the world are we going to do an internal investigation without scaring the perpetrator out of the place?" Billy asked as Jason let out a sigh. That was a tough question to be put into perspective, especially with the way that things were right now. They didn't know who to trust and who just might have betrayed them.

"If I know anything, you'll figure it out. It might be best if you just do it yourself, I know that you wouldn't betray that information," Jason said as Billy barely nodded. "But, it might just be too much for you."

"There's not much of a choice about it if we want to guarantee that it will get done well," Billy said as Kim finally moved and rolled into Tommy's side as her eyes fluttered open and she let out a groan.

"Tommy, wake up," Kim said as she propped herself up against him and gently shook him. "We got it open."

"Do you hurt as bad as I do?" Tommy asked as Kim nodded her head yes and then wove her hands into his hair before leaning down to give him a kiss.

"Guys…whenever you get up, we've got some things to discuss," Jason said as Kim looked up at him before she turned back to her husband and kissed him again.

"Are you up to doing anything else?" Tommy asked as he reluctantly pulled away from his wife and forced himself to focus on other matters. If he didn't, he'd have to throw the two other men out of his house and have his way with her.

"I can try, but I don't know how much I'll be good for, especially with the way my head is throbbing," Kim said as Tommy barely nodded as they heard Billy clear his throat and Kim looked back at him.

"I don't want to disturb anything, but if we can get some things discussed, then you can go back to making the third Oliver child," Billy said as Kim just smiled back at her husband.

"I thought the two of you were planning to stop after Chloe," Jason joked a s Kim looked down at Tommy and shrugged her shoulders. They had discussed it, but they had not made any decisions about how many children they were going to have yet. "Come on."

"Moving is pretty painful right now," Tommy confessed as he pushed Kim into a seated position and then used her as leverage to pull himself into a seated position as well. "We did a very good job of shutting that thing last time."

"When the two of you came back from Egypt, we buried your files, hid everything that we could about you as best as we could without involving federal officials," Billy said as Jason reached down and pulled the both of them to their feet.

"Why do I have the feeling that this is going to make me feel even worse?" Kim asked as she shuffled over to the counter and propped against it as Tommy settled his arms around her and held himself up with a great deal of effort.

"We buried you so deep that only someone within the company could have found out exactly where you live, someone looking into you too closely, someone that didn't believe the last name on the door," Billy said as Kim and Tommy exchanged a glance . They had no clue that those kind of protective walls had been placed around them, but it made sense. They had not seen many people that they knew for years and if they were truly buried, it explained it all.

"So how are we going to find this person?" Kim asked as Tommy looked back at Billy and Jason and saw that this was something that they could do nothing about, no matter how hard they tried.

"The two of you are going to continue life as normal, even with the people following you, I will do the investigation of the company and find out who has looked into your records, start there and work it out. It's more than just humans, but whatever you are up against doesn't want to reveal itself, yet," Billy said as Kim and Tommy nodded. They had been able to surmise that much when they saw Carla. She was a threat, but not so much that they'd be scared, it was what was behind her that bothered them.

"So you were followed?" Kim asked as Billy nodded his head yes. "I suggest the both of you get going, we'll get the Command Center up and running tomorrow."

"I almost forgot, here's the powers you'll be using," Billy said as Kim and Tommy examined the box and nodded in understanding. "I'm just a phone call away if you need me."

"We know," Tommy said a Billy and Jason slowly started towards the door. They could tell that the two rangers needed time alone, time to sit together and think this out because they had not been able to do that today. There were consequences to all of this and those had been firmly put aside for now. There would be a time to think about it later, but that later was now for them. They'd opened the Command Center, now they had to think about filling it once again and that was what scared them the most.


	4. Chapter 4

"Pizza?" Kim asked as she looked over at the door and Tommy shrugged his shoulders. It was certainly something they didn't eat on a regular basis, but he knew that neither of them were up to cooking tonight. They were exhausted from their efforts and only now coming to grips with the facts of this new reality.

"That'll be $20.57," the pizza boy said as Tommy pulled out the cash and then took the box. "Your change."

"That's your tip," Tommy said as the boy nodded and then scurried off the porch as Tommy closed the door.

"Tommy what have we gotten ourselves into? We locked all of that away to keep the pull from becoming too strong and now…" Kim trailed off as she looked at the box and then up at Tommy as he placed the items on the kid proofed coffee table.

"I'm not as worried about how it will affect us as our children. The powers inside of us are unharnessable, unuseable and they've been locked away for much longer. We can control it, we have to because what we'll lose is far worse," Tommy said as Kim nodded her head in understanding. She felt like a young child being chastised but she knew that was not Tommy's intention. He was just as worried as she was and this was how he dealt with all of the pain he was feeling.

"We're going to have to set up a better security net around this place," Kim said as Tommy nodded his head in agreement. The last time this had happened, they had had months to plan it all out, figure out what they did and didn't need to do. Now they were in complete survival mode. What had to be taken care of? Protected? What could be placed aside for later? These were things that they never liked to contemplate, but now they had no other choice but to do that.

"That's my first priority after we get the Command Center up and running. We can't bring the kids back until we've got all of that done," Tommy said as Kim looked over at him. She had not realized how serious this was in his eyes, she had expected to leave them there a couple of days until things cooled down some and they could bring them back.

"Not have our kids back? Tommy it could take weeks to get everything up and running. I asked your mom to watch them for a couple of days, not weeks, Tommy," Kim said as she covered her face and then stared up at him. "Tommy, I can't go that long, Chloe is four months old, weeks without her or Wyatt? I can't do that Tommy!"

"We need to…we don't have a choice," Tommy said as Kim stood up and stared down at him. He could see the tears forming in her eyes and took in a deep breath to try to calm herself. It didn't work, he was just as emotional as she was about this, but he had to make the point. He couldn't risk their babies, not now or ever.

"No choice! They're our children!" Kim exploded as Tommy stood and walked away. He did not want to say something that he'd regret later. He loved his wife and wanted to protect them, all of them. "Don't you walk away from me Tommy Oliver."

"Kim, please, I can't do this," Tommy whispered as he placed his hands on the back of the couch and kept his eyes away from hers. He knew that if he saw her, he'd break.

"Do what?" Kim asked as she yanked his face back towards her and stared up into his eyes. "What can't you do?"

"Lose you," Tommy whispered as she, for the first time, noticed the tears in his eyes and her face softened as she loosened her grasp on his chin. So this was why Tommy was so desperate to keep them away. He didn't think he could protect them. "Please, I need you to understand this, even if you're the only one that does."

"I'm scared too, but we can't keep them away from us for that long. Until everything is done, they can't leave our sight," Kim said as he met her eyes with a tentative sense of hope. "I know and I feel it too, but we decided to have a family, knowing this could come back, we just have to deal with it."

"I know, I just never imagined they'd come after Wyatt while he was so young. I thought it might be down the road, when he was old enough to help out," Tommy said as Kim took his hand and then led him back over to the couch, where they sat down and he nestled his head against her chest as the fear and the panic overwhelmed him and he shook with sobs. He had never failed them in the past and he couldn't believe that he was failing them now.

"Let it out," Kim whispered as she rocked her husband back and forth as he clung to her tightly. "It's okay Tommy, you should have broken down long before now."

"I'm just worried about them," Tommy said as his breathing calmed and he moved himself into a more comfortable position against his wife.

"So am I," Kim said as she ran her fingers through his hair and heard him drifting off against her chest and readjusted herself to where she could sleep as well. Usually the roles were reversed in their lives, but as of right now she knew he needed this. He had held onto being strong for so long, it was no wonder that he had finally broken. This was years of things that had built up inside of him and he was the man that had held it together through it all, for her, now it was her turn to hold on for him.  


* * *

"Where am I?" Tommy asked as he rolled over and felt his wife reach out to hold him in place.

"Couch, you'll fall off if you move," Kim whispered as he pulled her in closer and held her tight. It had been a long time since either of them had slept through the night, but they had managed it, it was a miracle what could happen when they had no children with them.

"Why are we down here?" Tommy asked as Kim looked over at him and smiled.

"Well, you feel asleep on my lap and I didn't want to wake you up. I know how bad it is for you to get back to sleep so, this is where we slept," Kim said as Tommy nodded and he then carefully rolled himself off of the couch and looked at the small ball that Kim had slept in.

"I'm sorry, you okay?" Tommy asked as she slowly uncurled and stretched out her back.

"I'm fine, not the first time this has happened," Kim said as she sat up and then followed him into the kitchen where he was staring down into the Command Center. "It's not going to get any better by just looking at it Tommy."

"One can always hope," Tommy said as he felt her arms wrap around him. "It's Saturday, can't we rest?"

"Tommy, I want my babies back and the only way that will happen is if we go down there and confront this," Kim said as he looked back and then lowered his head to kiss her. This was taking him back to years before when they had first done this and it was in a good way, oddly enough.

"I love you, so much," Tommy whispered as he released her lips and took in a deep breath over her lips as he held her loosely in his grasp.

"I love you too, come on, it'll be mostly dust and some loose wires," Kim said as he nodded and then turned to walk back down with her. She was definitely taking the helm on this until her husband came back to himself. She had never seen him this bad, except when he lost his green ranger powers. He looked like a lost puppy right now and she'd have to bring him back, she knew she could, but it would take loving and caring to do so.


	5. Chapter 5

"It's done," Kim whispered, early Monday morning as the whirr of the machines picked up and she looked over at Tommy, who was lounging on the couch and let out a sigh. A day was what she expected, but he was still in this funk and she was not sure how to get him out of it. "Tommy, it's done."

"I heard you the first time," Tommy uttered as he looked up at her and saw the rage in her eyes. He wanted to shrink back, but knew he couldn't. He knew he deserved whatever she said or whatever she did to him. He'd been a jackass to her and he hadn't meant to, but he couldn't deal with it either.

"Tommy! I…I…go upstairs, I need a few minutes alone," Kim said as he gave her a shocked look. "Get out, just get out!"

"Kim," Tommy stared as she looked at him and glared at him.

"Tommy, before I do something, leave, go upstairs," Kim said as he took a step towards her. "Leave!"

"Okay," Tommy said backing away as he saw her shaking with rage. He knew he had gone too far, that she had been pushed too much this time.

She sank down into her seat and ran her fingers through her hair and pulled it as she let out a strangled cry. Tommy had never done something like this before and she had to figure out how to deal with this. She needed him, desperately, to come back to his true self and love her, truly love her.

"What have I done?" Tommy muttered to himself as he sat down at the kitchen table and heard Kim sobbing down the stairs, but a world away from him. He knew it was too soon to go back and try to make things right. He had nearly gotten himself killed by staying as long as he did and he had hurt her, hurt her in a way he promised himself he never would. All this time he had moved from one job to the next, never breaking, now he had and his wife had had to take over for him. He had ignored her, he had badgered her, insulted her, played mind games with her and now he sat listening to her sob and the guilt flooded over him. He loved her, but he could not imagine doing this to her, not another team, not more powers, but he had to, for their children.

The doorbell rang, pulling him out of his revelry, as he looked at the kitchen clock he shook his head. It was three in the morning and no one in their right mind would come calling at this hour, unless they wanted to be killed. Neither he nor Kim were good people to be woken up at this hour of the morning.

"Go away," Tommy said as he opened the door and looked up to see his mother standing there. "Mom?"

"I want to know what's going on," Gina said as Tommy let out a sigh and looked behind her to see his father in the car with the children in the backseat, asleep.

"Mom, I've got enough problems with everything else, please just keep the kids for us," Tommy said as he heard Wyatt call out for him and closed his eyes. "They are safe with you, they're not safe here."

"What's that sound?" Gina asked as Tommy tuned into the noise of Kim's sobs and hung his head as he felt her gaze on him. "Thomas, you better have a good explanation as to why your wife is crying like that."

"Mom, please, we'll work it out, get the kids back to your place," Tommy said, desperately, as she looked up at him. She had heard this tone in his voice before and knew exactly what it meant, even if he thought she didn't know it.

"It's happening again, isn't it?" Gina asked as Tommy nodded his head yes and he gave her a hug. "I understand you wanting to protect them, all of them, but they miss you dearly. We're staying the night, tomorrow we'll talk about us keeping the kids longer."

"Go ahead, if I'm not back upstairs in fifteen minutes, come save me," Tommy said as Gina gave him a confused look and then went back out to the car.

He walked down the stairs and saw her back shaking with the sobs and it made him feel all of about an inch tall. It took all of his remaining courage to walk towards her and even more than he thought he had to place his hands on her shoulders.

"I told you to leave," Kim managed as she felt him move to her side and looked up to glare at him. "I don't want to hurt you."

"And I want to let you kill me, if it'd make you feel better. Kim, you've not deserved the way I've treated you over the last few days. I just…I've never been in a place where I couldn't protect the ones I love, I got scared and I…I did this," Tommy whispered as she reached out and smacked him hard across the face and threw her arms around him in a desperate hug.

"You stupid man!" Kim sobbed as she held him tight and he closed his eyes, wondering if he had really been forgiven so quickly. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I've never felt this with you before, I've never been helpless with you in the past," Tommy whispered as she pulled away from him and kissed him until he had to struggle to remember the real reason he was down here, besides begging for forgiveness.

"Make love to me, Tommy," Kim whispered as he forced himself to focus. As appealing as that sounded, he knew they couldn't, not right now, maybe sometime later. "Tommy…"

"I want to, but my parents brought Chloe and Wyatt back, they're upstairs. That's why I really risked bodily harm to come down here," Tommy said as Kim squinted her eyes at him and then heard Chloe's laugh from upstairs.

"My babies," Kim whispered as she released him and then ran up the stairs to hold them and hug them and he smiled as he watched her go. This was the woman he loved and the only woman that would forgive him so completely for being that much of a jerk, only because she had been through it all, done the same thing and he had never turned his back. He couldn't, not from her.

"Are the two of you going to explain what kind of trouble you're in or are we going to have to pester it out of you?" Gina asked as Tommy let out a sigh and looked over at Kim, whose eyelids were drooping. The both of them had been awake for well over twenty four hours and it was starting to catch up with them both.

"It's not really trouble, some being is after Wyatt, maybe Chloe, we're not sure about her," Tommy said, bluntly, as Gina nodded her head in understanding. Several years earlier she had forced the information out of him. He did not want to go through that again and opted for the truth.

"After the kids?" Gina managed to force out in her shock as Tommy nodded his head yes and watched as his mother went through the various phases of shock before she let out an undignified shriek. "This can't be!"

"They are, Gina and the only thing that we can do is try to keep them safe. That's why we brought them to stay with you, this house isn't safe for them until we get the anti-teleportation back up and running. Even then things are going to be risky," Kim said as Tommy reached for her hand and she barely squeezed his. "Do you understand why we can't do this?"

"I do, now, but you didn't leave us much to work with. You have never just dropped off the kids for a couple days without even a call or a check in, it's not like you, that is a scary thing," Gina said as Tommy gave Kim a gentle nudge and then nodded his head towards their bedroom. She quietly stood up and headed for their room, knowing that he would soon join her.

"Mom, I really wish that things were better and that we didn't have to deal with this. I really don't want to be rude, but Kim and I haven't gotten any sleep in the last day and a half and we need some right now. You know where the guest room is, get some rest," Tommy said as he slowly stood and hugged each of his parents before he walked up the stairs to join his wife.

"When is our son going to understand that we know about his life, we really do?" Gina asked as Morgan put his arm around his wife in a comforting embrace.

"I don't know if Tommy ever will, he's kept this from everyone for so long that this is normal. It is a protection method of his, something that we aren't really supposed to understand, honey," Morgan said as Gina let out a sigh.

"He's our son, we'd learn to understand it," Gina said as Morgan nodded that that was true.

"But this is his burden, not ours, it's something that only he can deal with. It's time that we let this go, come on, let's get some sleep," Morgan said as Gina barely nodded and then trudged up the stairs after him. None of them knew exactly what was going to happen that night, they didn't need to know.


	6. Chapter 6

"Daddy!" Wyatt shrieked from his bed as Carla stood in his room. The little boy had woken up to see her standing over him in the shadows and he could not be kept quiet, even if Carla tried. She just wanted to abduct the boy, she didn't seem like she was going to be that lucky, the little boy seemed to have a danger radar, much like his parents. "Daddy!"

"Daddy won't save you now," Carla said as the little boy scurried around his bed, eventually rolling off and under it. "Come out!"

"No!" Wyatt yelled as he scurried to the furthest corner against the wall. "Daddy!"

"Do you hear something?" Tommy asked as he rolled over on his side and Kim let out a sigh. She was so tired and she didn't want to wake up, Chloe should not be crying right now, she had just fed her about an hour ago. "Kim, I need you to wake up."

"Tommy, please…" Kim trailed off as she heard Wyatt's shriek and they both bolted from the bed and ran for his door. "Break it down."

"Wyatt, hold on buddy," Tommy said, calmly, as he kicked through the door and Kim walked into the room after him.

"Get Wyatt, I have some business to do," Kim said as Tommy strode over to the bed and then reached under it and pulled out the wailing boy and then looked over at his wife. "Check on Chloe, she wouldn't be as loud."

"Don't do anything I wouldn't do," Tommy said with an evil smile as Kim barely nodded her head and turned back towards Carla, who was just rising to her feet. She had splinters from the door embedded in her flesh and she was squirting blood everywhere. Kim, however, did not give a damn about that. She only had revenge in mind, revenge for everything they had lost and what they might very well lose. She was tired of evil thinking that they could continue to screw with their lives and this was going to stop, if she had to kill every one of them herself, it was going to stop.

"I want to make one thing very clear to you, the only reason you aren't dead already is because Wyatt was in the room," Kim said as Carla looked down at her with a sneer. There was no way that this little woman could take her out, absolutely no way, even if she was hurt. "You're not so lucky anymore."

"You're not a cold blooded killer, neither you nor your husband, you don't have the guts to do what needs to be done," Carla said as Kim held her hand out and pink sparks shot out from it, striking Carla and throwing her through the second floor window. There had been a time when she would not have done that, but that time had past, lines had been crossed and things were going to go badly for Carla and whoever else she was working with.

"Let that be a lesson to your boss that the nice Kimberly and Tommy are gone, they've messed with the wrong thing and we're not going to hold back," Kim said as she walked back out of the room and ran into Tommy in the hall, holding both of the children in his arms.

"Did you take care of her?" Tommy asked as Kim nodded her head yes and he looked into the room and saw the blown out window. That was about what he had imagined doing to her. "Do I have a body to bury out there?"

"I'm not sure at this point, I'm thinking that whoever sent her here, will get her out of here. That is proof that someone is after us to anyone out there that knows anything about us," Kim said as Tommy walked over to the window and looked down to see that the body was already gone. "Was I right?"

"Yes, you were. I guess the babies are sleeping with us again tonight," Tommy said as Kim barely nodded and he walked on into their room. The two kids were soon asleep in their bed and the two of them were awake, staring at each other in silence. So much was said in their eyes that they couldn't say for fear of waking the babies back up.

"We're going to have to explain all of this to your parents. Tommy, I'm not even sure that they were teleporting her in here," Kim said as Tommy barely nodded, but as he thought about it, he knew that they had to. She would have broken into the place and he would have noticed that, so that left teleporting or some other similar method.

"They had to be Kim, otherwise there would have been evidence of a break in. The only ones who have a spare key are the other rangers," Tommy whispered as he reached over and stroked her hair. "Go back to sleep, the kids will be fine, they're with us now."

* * *

"What happened last night?" Gina shrieked as Tommy rubbed his temples in an attempt to keep his cool. He had barely gotten three hours of sleep last night, what with rescuing the kids and then his overactive brain. Kim had fallen back to sleep a few minutes after they had finished talking, holding Chloe against her chest, with Wyatt snuggled up against her side.

"Another attempt to take Wyatt, this one more serious, please take them back with you. We'll have everything done by Wednesday at latest and then we'll go back to normal life," Tommy said as Gina's eyes widened and he placed his hand on her shoulder. "Mom, we'll be fine, but I need you to do this for us for just a little bit longer."

"All right, but I want you to know that I don't like this Tommy," Gina said as she took Chloe from Kimberly and reached down for Wyatt's hand. "Not one bit."

"I understand," Tommy said as he let out a sigh and looked over at his own wife. He knew that the two of them were going to silently climb the stairs and get several more hours of much needed rest. Then they would go back to work, it was all that they could do. It was what they had to do, to keep their loved ones safe.

* * *

"She's dead," Mitch said as he walked into the office. He had gotten her the night before and could not believe what he saw. Kim and Tommy were stronger than any of them thought, far stronger. These were not people that they wanted to cross and he didn't care who liked the idea of it, it was something that wasn't pleasant.

"I knew that their powers were strong, not this strong," Aaron said as he spun around in his chair. "Do they suspect that we have taken Billy?"

"No, you've been doing an adequate job with impersonating him, even with his wife," Mitch said as Aaron let out a sigh. Katherine had been the hardest person for him to fool, but she had believed him, convincingly, but he had been able to convince her there was no reason for sex. He knew that would give him away as not being her husband.

"This is something that might not last very long, we need a more permanent plan. Katherine will know if she has sex with me, I'm not her husband, for some reason she has not pushed that idea," Aaron said as Mitch barely nodded.

"I didn't think that they had it in them to do something like that. They are not murderous by nature," Mitch said as Aaron nodded that he agreed. Something had happened since the last time they had dealt with these rangers, something to change the way they acted. "Did we push them in a way that we didn't know about?"

"Carla might have, they forced her off a site when she tried to take some gems from them, she had a reason to be unfriendly towards them," Aaron said as Mitch nodded and he let out a sigh.

"One of us should have handled the intimidation, now we have to figure out what she did and attempt to not do that again," Mitch said as a slim woman with jet black hair walked into the room. "Aly?"

"It's time for the second phase, our bosses are not happy with what happened to Carla, they want the boy, we've got to figure out how to get him," Aly said as Mitch's mouth dropped open. "That is why Carla is dead."

"They're crazy, it's one thing to go after them as rangers, but we're going after them as parents, we're lucky that it's only Carla that is dead right now," Aaron said as Aly nodded.

"I know, but you, impersonating Billy, might be the best chance that we'll have at getting the boy and getting out of this alive," Aly said as Aaron shook his head.

"There has to be another way. And why is the boy so important? It's not like he has powers, the parents are the ones I'd be worried about," Aaron said as Aly let out a loud sigh.

"We take the children and we'll have bait, we'll have something that they will come after and give us anything that we want," Aly said as Mitch and Aaron exchanged a glance.

"Didn't that just get Carla killed?" Mitch asked as Aly sighed.

"Boss's words, either you do it or we'll have to face far worse than Kim when she's upset," Aly said as Mitch and Aaron exchanged a glance. They knew who they were working for, but they could not seem to find the proper fear that the man usually instilled in people. Probably because they were seeing that there were people out there that could do far worse than he could and they were doing it for reasons that seemed properly motivated.


	7. Chapter 7

"How are we going to do this?" Kim asked as they sat down in the Command Center with the baby monitor between them, staring at the screens. The set of gems that they had seemed more specific than normal, there was not really much of a choice left but to fill them and fill them well.

"I'm not sure Kim, things just seem so wrong with this, not like our normal issues with rangers," Tommy said as they heard Chloe start crying and Kim let out a sigh. "I got her, go ahead and head up to bed, I don't see us getting much more done tonight."

"Have we done a random search?" Kim asked as he placed his arms around her and gave her a gentle kiss.

"We don't want it to come down to that, you know it as well as I do, I'll get her and you get in bed. You'll need the rest before tomorrow," Tommy said as she gave him an odd look. "You've forgotten?"

"About?" Kim asked as Tommy smiled and then shook his head. "What's tomorrow?"

"Our anniversary," Tommy said as her mouth fell open and she placed her head in her hands. "Kim, don't worry about it, things have been really hectic and I know that you've barely been able to look at a calendar lately."

"But you kept up with it," Kim said as Chloe let out another wail and Tommy gave her a quick peck on the lips before he started running up the stairs.

"Kim, I don't want to be sleeping on the couch because I forgot something like this. Don't worry about it honey, you've had a lot on you," Tommy said as she placed her head against the console and let out a sigh. She should have known that this was coming up, she'd never forgotten something like this before, it was usually Tommy's arena to forget and now that she had admitted it, anything she got would be a mute point.

She then forced herself to stand and walked up to their bedroom, changing into a silk nightgown and crawling into bed. The tears were rolling down her face, knowing that she had forgotten something so important to her. The last time this had happened, the powers that lived inside of her had been able to get a hold on her, she was afraid that would happen again. She had lost him the last time it happened, she knew she wouldn't survive that again.

"Hey, you okay?" Tommy asked as he crawled in next to her in his boxers and she shook her head no. "Kim, how many times have I forgotten something and you have never given me a hard time? Don't worry, you need some sleep."

"Tommy, I feel horrible, you're my husband, I should remember this, I should always remember this," Kim whispered as his arms strengthened around her and she sighed into his shoulder. "You are far too good for me, I…I don't deserve…"

"That is the nights of no sleep talking, everything will be fine, the anti-teleportation is up, nothing has happened since Carla was here, you've got to take care of yourself," Tommy said as he looked down at her and saw that she had fallen asleep against his shoulder and he could not help but smile. It did not seem to matter, whenever he held her, he could take away all her worries, all her fears, and give her peace.

* * *

Five teenagers were walking through the halls of Reefside High School, completely oblivious to what fate had in store for them on that particular day. Each one came from a different group of the teenage psyche. There was a prep, a jock, a band geek, a drama club fanatic, and an outsider. The five of them had only had limited contact, but all of that was going to change, by a chance meeting with one man.

"We're having a substitute? Man, you know she's gonna be a push over," Morris said as his friends nodded their heads.

"Hate to tell you, but that don't look like a she Morris," Emma said with a smile as she walked past him. "Pretty good looking, to tell you the truth."

"He's actually an archeologist," Claire said as they all looked back at her. She was wearing her headphones and a baggy sweater with a pair of green khaki capri cargo pants.

"Who asked you?" Emma spat out as Claire tilted her head towards the floor and quickly walked into the classroom.

"What did you do that for?" Morris asked as Emma looked back at him.

"You like the little outcast Morris?" Emma teased as he pushed past her and walked into the classroom.

"We need music for the newest stage play, what can you do?" Chris asked as he threw his scarf over his shoulder and Matt shook his head at this overly dramatic friend.

"You have to talk to the band director, not the drum major to get all of this solved. We've had this conversation before," Matt said as they walked into the classroom and looked over at the substitute.

"Who lets a body like that become a substitute teacher?" Chris asked as Matt shook his head and they both headed to their assigned seats.

"Hello everyone, I'm Dr. Thomas Oliver, I work at Wolf Industries, as the co-head of the archeology department. Since you are studying the dinosaur era, your teacher thought I would be an appropriate substitute," Tommy said as the class stared at him and he smiled around at them. "I have a set of gems that we recovered in Egypt, roughly four years ago, I'll let all of you look at them and then we'll talk about them."

"Gems? You think that that is what we'll be interested in?" Emma piped up as Tommy leveled a gaze on her.

"It's better than the seven pages of busy work he left for you, but if you want to do that, then I have no problem with it," Tommy said as he looked over at her and her mouth fell open. "That's what I thought, pass them around."

"Dr. Oliver," Claire murmured as she held the pink gem in her hands and when the boy in front of her tried to take it, it shocked the both of them.

"Yes," Tommy said looking up and seeing the girl holding the pink gem and she waved her hand in the air showing that the gem would not leave her hand and he barely nodded. "I thought that might happen, it has in some of the earlier classes, five people here will wind up holding a gem, it's the way it goes."

"Okay," Claire whispered as she watched them go around the room and various other classmates had the same problem. The various classmates were not people that she was particularly fond of, but she could deal with whatever this was going to mean or so she thought.

"That's interesting," Tommy murmured to himself as he looked out at the class. In all honesty, the gems had not stuck with anyone else earlier today, but now he was seeing this for the true opportunity that it was. "Now, these gems have properties that are not considered normal in the archeological field of study, I'm not completely sure what they are, but I am sure that the five of you will help me find them out."

"How would we do that?" Matt asked as Tommy shrugged his shoulders.

"You'll find out in due time, now I've got some more things to pass around, take a look when you're ready," Tommy said and the class continued much the same way, with him keeping a close eye on the five that were going to be his rangers and he did not like what he was seeing. They were not close friends or even acquaintances, they seemed to almost be enemies, and that was something he had not expected. All of his past teams had been friends, at the very least, this did not look like anything that he had ever dealt with before. His wife was going to kill him when he brought them home today, but what choice did he have? They were his rangers.


	8. Chapter 8

Tommy arrived at home and walked into the living room to see Kim and their two children asleep on the couch. Kim barely let the children out of her sight when she was at home and he didn't blame her. Wyatt, however, woke up the second that he heard the door open and he ran for him.

"Daddy!" Wyatt yelled as he launched himself at Tommy and he scooped him up quickly.

"Wyatt? Wyatt, where'd you go?" Kim asked as she slowly sat up and was holding Chloe against her chest. Their daughter stretched sleepily let out a baby yawn before placing herself back against her mother's body

"I've got him Kim," Tommy said as she stood up and walked into the foyer. He had set down the box of gems he had taken with him and she gave him a confused look. She did not think he would do something like this, but they were desperate, they couldn't find anyone that fit these gems. "We've got a set of rangers, they don't know they are our rangers, they think that they've just got some free gems."

"Do I need to take the kids upstairs?" Kim asked as Tommy shook his head no and she gave him another confused look. "What are you going to do?"

"I am going to teleport them into the basement and they might as well know why we need them so much," Tommy said as Kim nodded and then followed him down the stairs as he held onto Wyatt's hand and he toddled down.

"This is going to be something that we've never done before," Kim murmured as Chloe woke up and looked up at her in confusion. She had never seen this part of the house and it was a little bit much for her mind to take in. "Chloe, it's okay honey, don't cry."

"Prepare yourself, this might get ugly," Tommy said as Kim walked over to the play pen and placed Chloe in it before she grabbed Wyatt by the hand.

Tommy walked over to the console and began working his way through the linking and teleporting process. It had been several years since he had last done this and he was hoping that the sparks would start flying. In a few moments the rays of light began to appear and when the rangers started landing, they were shocked at what they saw. Then they turned around and saw the man that brought them there.

"Surprise," Tommy said as the five of them stared at him in awe. "You are all Power Rangers."

"What?" Emma yelled as Kim looked over at the girl and crossed her arms. "Who the hell are they?"

"Watch your mouth young lady," Kim said with a glare as she looked over at her in defiance. "You wipe that smug look off your face too, I may be a mother of two, but I can beat the living stew out of you any time I want. You see, I've been on enough ranger teams to have a little bit of something left in me."

"And Emma, that's my family, so, I don't suggest you make her mad," Tommy said with a smile as Kim crossed her arms and squared her shoulders towards the teens. He could see that this was where the majority of the conflict was going to come from, but hopefully Emma would outgrow her 'high school princess' persona and become something more, he needed her to become something more.

"You've got to be kidding…I'm not a ranger, I'm not even remotely coordinated," Claire said as Tommy chuckled politely.

"You're a gymnast, aren't you?" Tommy asked as the others stared at her in shock as she nodded her head yes. She guarded that as a secret and she didn't know how he knew, but he did. "A very talented one from what I've heard, that'll help you a lot, especially since you've got the gymnast's namesake color."

"She's pink?" Kim asked as Tommy nodded his head yes and she jumped up and down with excitement. "I have a gymnast! Yes, I've got so many things for you. How good are you?"

"I've gone to nationals for the last several years," Claire said as Kim did a little dance and Tommy smiled.

"Do we have a black belt?" Kim asked as Tommy shook his head no and Kim just shook her head. "I was going to be thrilled if we had that, it's a shame, a dang shame."

"I know, but we've got a good red from what I can tell, so we'll be all right," Tommy said as Kim nodded and he reached over for her hand. "It'll be okay, Kim."

"You're sure that they can take care of this?" Kim asked as Tommy nodded his head yes and she let out a sigh. "Okay, you might as well spill the beans about the truth."

"The truth?" Morris asked as his dark skin paled and Kim nodded her head.

"We were never planning on having another ranger team, ever. Problem is, they've come after our family this time. It would be one thing if Wyatt was eighteen, but he's not and we're too old to be rangers, by the modern standard," Tommy said as Chris laughed.

"I mean no offense, but you've got to give me some acting lessons. I've never heard anything so ludicrous said with such a straight face. How did you manage it?" Chris asked as Kim's eyes widened and Tommy gently pushed her to the side, as she stood there dumbfounded. "It has to be a hoax."

"My dear God, Tommy, did the gems go psycho on us? We've got a hormonal cheerleader, an overly dramatic blue, two that have not opened their mouths, and one that has potential. I've never seen a group look like this before," Kim said as the teens looked at her and Tommy hung his head.

"I never said that it was going to be easy, but we'll do it, it's possible," Tommy said as Kim placed her head in her hands.

"If I didn't know better, I'd say that Billy gave us the worst powers we ever discovered on the digs," Kim said as Tommy let out a sigh and then placed his arm gently around her. "I'm serious, Tommy. These gems don't seem like the ones that Billy would hand out."

"I know, it's going to be okay. We've just got more work in front of us, but if these kids are willing, we have a team, we have something that we can use," Tommy said as she let out a sigh and gently reached over for his hand.

"Tommy, please don't do this to us, let us find some more rangers," Kim said as he shook his head that they couldn't do that. He knew that they didn't have the time for that and she knew it as well, she just didn't like what she was seeing. "I'm scared, Tommy."

"She always like this?" Emma piped up as Tommy grabbed Kim in a hug and they watched as she struggled against him.

"That's it! Take the children upstairs!" Kim yelled as he looked down at her, he was not used to seeing her like this when things went wrong. She usually was fairly calm, although this time had more to do with the fact that their kids were involved than anything else.

"Kimberly," Tommy said as he stroked back her hair. "They're kids, who have just found out that they are the next generation of Power Rangers, it's a rough thing to handle, especially so suddenly, neither of us took it well when we first found out. It'll get better."

"Is she our yellow?" Kim asked as Tommy nodded his head yes and Kim took in a deep breath. "You know what I want to do."

"I know and right now probably isn't the best time for that, as much as you want to, I don't want to scare them away," Tommy said as Kim nodded and then walked over to Chloe. He had no idea how he did it, but he had somehow avoided a major disaster and if this was any sign of what lay ahead, he was not happy. "So, are you going to help us?"

"You're not lying to us?" Morris asked as Tommy shook his head no and then pulled out an old morpher. "One of yours?"

"Actually it's one of hers, most of mine were destroyed ages ago," Tommy said as Morris nodded. "Matt, do you have any questions? You've been quiet."

"Not really, I guess this is just something that you have to get used to," Matt said as Tommy nodded his head that that was certainly the case. "So, what's next?"

"I never thought you'd ask," Kim said with a smile as they all stared at her and suddenly felt that they might actually be getting into something that was not going to be pleasant. "Now we train."


	9. Chapter 9

Training in the past had always been an activity that they allowed the rangers to do on their own, but with this group they knew that they couldn't. Only one of the kids had some knowledge of how to move their body in order to get a result, they had to attempt to teach them all self defense and body awareness and they did not have a lot of time to do that in. They had no idea when the next attack might be and they needed to be ready.

"Kick me, come on," Tommy yelled as Morris stared at him in shock. They had been working out for ages and his body was aching. He had never felt like this after football practice and it was no wonder that Tommy was in such good shape, karate was certainly challenging. "If you can't do this, you aren't going to be able to take out whatever he throws at you, now kick me."

"Lunch!" Kim called as the teens looked up at her with relief shining in their eyes. The morning had been training with Tommy, the afternoon would be training with Kim, which they all imagined would be easier, somehow.

"They been acting good for you?" Tommy asked as Kim nodded her head that Chloe and Wyatt weren't giving her any trouble. He then moved to give her a hug and she placed a hand on his chest.

"As much as I love you, I don't want a sweaty hug right now," Kim said as he smiled and then wrapped her up in a bear hug. "Tommy!"

"I gave you a bear hug, you didn't exclude those," Tommy whispered as she swatted at him and he pulled on a shirt before he headed for the table and took out a jar of baby food and some milk for Chloe. "Wyatt, use your fork."

"Too big Daddy," Wyatt said as he squeezed the macaroni in his hand and Tommy took a napkin and quickly wiped it clean before passing Wyatt his fork, which was the only one in the house for three year old sized hands. "Thank you."

"Your welcome, now eat with the fork," Tommy said as the teens just stared at him. How could this man go from being an ass-kicking black belt, to a gentle father in mere seconds?

"Eat whatever you want guys, but you need to eat something, your bodies are going to need fuel for this afternoon," Kim said as they looked at her. She was wearing a pair of shorts and a t-shirt, but they could all see the lithe frame beneath them and that scared them. Suddenly the evening didn't seem like it was going to be any easier.

"Why do I think that this isn't going to be easy?" Emma whispered as Claire shook her head.

"Because now we're going to have a target that actually dodges us," Matt said as Claire barely nodded her head yes. She could imagine how good Kim was at this and she didn't look to be that old, so that was definitely a plus.

"Dodging is not what I would call it," Tommy murmured as the guys looked over at him and he laughed as Chloe threw food at him. "Chloe…"

"Tommy, you need to eat yourself…I'll feed her," Kim said as he looked up at his wife from the chair and shook his head no. "Okay, have it your way."

"You probably haven't gotten to sit down at all today, eat and I'll find some time to eat this afternoon," Tommy said as Kim barely nodded. She then took a seat next to Wyatt and quickly grabbed his hand to stop him from smearing macaroni in his hair.

"How do the two of you do that?" Morris asked as Kim and Tommy exchanged a glance and Tommy then scooped the food back into Chloe's mouth.

"We've had a weird sixth sense for years, since people have tried to attack us in the past, it's come in helpful," Tommy said as they stared at them. How long had they known each other and how long had they been doing this? "The answer is fifteen years."

"We didn't ask a question," Claire said as she stared at the two of them and Tommy let out a sigh.

"We have a sixth sense about our rangers too. We're both thirty, we started as rangers at age fifteen and we've done all sort of crazy things," Kim said as they looked over at her.

"You're thirty?" Morris asked as his mouth hung open and Tommy looked over at him with a slight glare. "It's not like that…"

"You have to forgive him, he's a little bit protective of me," Kim said as Tommy looked over at her. "You would get mad if he said that the food was good."

"No, I wouldn't I'm just…" Tommy trailed off as he shook his head. "Okay, I am a little bit protective and I'm also a little bit jealous at times. It's how I kept her."

"Let's not go back to when I went to Florida…I don't think they need to know about that yet," Kim said as the teens stared at them. "You get pulled in different ways, to do different things, but you'll always be a ranger."

"Hey guys! Why didn't you let me know you had a team," Billy said as he walked in and Kim and Tommy gave him a shocked look. He usually did not come out here for no reason and this was no reason.

"Because it's our team, what are you doing here?" Kim asked as the teens looked at them and then back at Billy. They suddenly felt that something was wrong, although they weren't sure what. "Have you been feeling all right? You haven't been acting like normal lately."

"I'm fine, I just wanted to come up for a visit," Billy said as Kim and Tommy looked at each other.

"Without Kat and the kids? You've been working late hours all week, I thought you'd want to see your children," Kim said as Tommy looked over at him as well. He had not been acting like himself lately, he usually left the office with them, maybe even before them, but he had stayed late every day this week. Something was wrong.

"They'll be there when I get home," Billy said as Tommy stood up and he gave Kim a focused look and then dragged Billy out of the kitchen.

"What the hell is going on?" Tommy yelled as he threw Billy into the door. "You have done a complete 180 in the last two weeks. What's going on?"

"It's just been busy at work," Billy said as he looked away from Tommy and reached up and he saw a peek of a tattoo on his upper arm.

"Kimberly!" Tommy yelled as Billy looked at him and the other ranger ran into the room. "We have an imposter."

"Him?" Kim asked as Tommy nodded his head yes and then pulled up the shoulder of his shirt. "Billy doesn't have tattoos."

"Yeah, we've got one of the people working against. Where's the real Billy?" Tommy asked as the man laughed at him.

"I wouldn't be laughing," Kim said as she looked over at her husband and then walked into the kitchen.

"Who are you calling?" Tommy asked as she took in a deep breath.

"Katherine, I want to make sure she knows and that she hasn't done anything," Kim said as the man tried to pull away from Tommy.

"I wouldn't do that if I was you, we're going to see who shows up for you," Tommy said as he just shook his head.

"The person I work for will make you squirm," Aaron said as Tommy laughed. Obviously this man had no idea what he could do and that there was not really much in this world that scared him anymore.

"You don't know anything about me and since the person you work for won't come after us, we'll lure him out. You are making the same mistake that Carla made and we will find Billy, he might even get out on his own, knowing that man," Tommy said as Kim walked back in and he looked over at the little woman.

"Who is watching the kids?" Aaron asked as Kim crossed her arms and settled down on the armchair.

"The rangers and if you think you're going to take them…you'll join Carla," Kim said as he looked over at her and she crossed her arms.

"So you were the one who killed her?" Aaron asked as Kim leveled her gaze on the man and he felt ice run through his veins.

"I'd do it again if someone threatened my children and you're lucky you haven't done anything…too bad," Kim said as Tommy kept his hand on Aaron's shoulder and he gave him a confused look.

"You're not going anywhere…I don't know why you think I'd let you out of my sight," Tommy said as the man looked over at him and suddenly saw what everyone had been saying about Tommy. He was not an idiot and he was scary in real life, in a way that made you see that being a ranger had hardened him, to a point of no return. "I'm not stupid."

"Kim!" Morris yelled as a man appeared in the kitchen and he grabbed Wyatt.

"Daddy!" Wyatt yelled as Tommy quickly placed a shield around the man and they both ran for the kitchen.

"Tommy, so good to see you again," Griffin said as the two of them stared. They had been sure that the man died when he attempted to steal powers from them. "I survived, now I'm going to take from you."

"It's not the boy you want," Tommy said as Kim looked over at him. "Take me."

"Tommy…" Kim murmured as he looked over at her.

"No, the one who almost killed me, is her…I'll take her in Wyatt's place and return Billy, if you promise to never try to get her back," Griffin said as Kim took a step forward and Tommy grabbed her shoulder.

"Our son," Kim said as the tears streamed down her face and she stepped closer and held her arms out. "Give him to me."

"Here you go," Griffin said as he passed the boy to Morris and Kim took a step forward as the sobs wracked her body. "You try to find her and she dies."

"Griff, she's my wife," Tommy said as he stared at the other man as he nuzzled his head against Kim's neck and she shivered. "You know I'll try."

"Of course, but she'll die and you will truly be alone," Griffin said as Tommy choked back his tears and watched as Kim barely nodded her head towards him.

"Keep the babies safe, don't worry about me," Kim whispered as Griffin suddenly shimmered away and Billy appeared in their stead. Tommy hit his knees as the tears started rolling down his face and Billy was the first one to reach the sobbing ranger.

"Where's the man who's impersonating me?" Billy asked as Tommy pointed to the other room as he tried to gulp in air, but he could barely manage it. Wyatt walked over to him and threw his little arms around him and lightly patted his back.

"Okay, Daddy," Wyatt whispered as Tommy pulled the little boy into him and the teens stared at them. Chloe was crying and Tommy forced himself to stand and took the baby from Claire.

"It's okay, Chloe, it's okay," Tommy whispered as Billy tossed the man into the kitchen.

"I'm going to kill him," Billy said as Tommy looked up at the man and saw the raw anger in Billy's eyes. "When are you going to go after her?"

"I'm not…they are," Tommy said as the rangers stared at him. "If I go, he'll kill her. If you go, she stands a chance."

"What are you going to do with him?" Billy asked as he nudged Aaron in the shoulder.

"We're going to find out who else is working with them and then we are going to do what I should have done a long time ago," Tommy said as Aaron looked up at him and Billy barely nodded.

"I'll call the others, you take care of the kids. We'll handle everything else," Billy said as Tommy barely nodded and he walked into the living room and Wyatt looked up at the others.

"Mommy?" Wyatt asked as Billy let out a sigh and he picked up the little boy.

"Mommy's gone bye-bye, but we'll get her back, we will," Billy whispered as the teens stared in shock as the little boy clung to the man and he looked over at the rangers. "I guess it's time you put the suit on."

"Will she be all right?" Emma asked as Billy shrugged his shoulders. He didn't know, they all knew that Kimberly was a strong woman and they all knew that there was no other choice. Either she went or their children did, any mother would have made the same choice, no matter what. Tommy was devastated and they all understood why, they just hoped that Tommy would come back and would be ready to fight when he did.


	10. Chapter 10

"You are such a beautiful woman," Griffin whispered as Kim looked over at him from the spot that he had thrown her down on earlier that evening. She had not struggled or even tried to escape, it seemed that she was resolved to what was happening and was not going to give him any trouble, which was odd. She was a former ranger, she should fight, it was something that was so deep in her heart that he could not believe she was going silent. "Tommy is so lucky to have you."

"That's the only one that will ever have me, truly have me," Kimberly said as she looked over at the man and smirked. She did not care how mad she made him, she wanted him to try something right now. He would not live if he did, she knew that much about her powers. "You know he's going to come for me and if you kill me, you will die as well. He will not hold back, he may not hold back in the first place."

"Not exactly my plan to piss the man off to that point," Griffin said as he sat down next to her and gently rubbed her leg. He could feel her tense and he knew that she was uncomfortable here, even if she tried to hide it from him with her words. "I honestly am not going to do anything to invoke that sort of wrath from him, but with this happening, I'm not sure what he'll do."

"I'm pretty sure that this ranks pretty high on the things that you shouldn't have done. I did this for our children, he'll do whatever it take to bring me back and what he'll do…it'll make what I did to Carla look like child's play. My temper isn't nearly as bad as his, he just holds it in and then he explodes once you've pushed him…you've definitely pushed him," Kim said as Griffin looked over at her. For being captured, she was a very cocky woman and he had the feeling that if he provoked her, she would give him the same treatment as Carla.

"You nearly took everything from me, I should return the favor," Griffin said as Kim looked over at him.

"Taking away my children would have hurt me more, but taking me away from Tommy, is probably right up there with the children for him," Kim said as she smirked over at him. She was tired, but she was not going to let him see it, she was not going to let him see what any of this was doing to her.

"Why would that be? He could have any woman that he chooses," Griffin said as Kim looked away from him. She knew just how true that was, knew that Tommy could have found someone when she had her momentary lapse of judgment, but he didn't, he fell harder for her instead. That was something that she was forever grateful for.

"He could, but he choose me and I am honored that he did, I really am," Kim whispered as she looked over at the other man and shook her head. "You've never known that kind of love, I can tell, you haven't."

"You took that away," Griffin said as Kim shook her head.

"You never loved Melanie," Kim said as Griffin looked over at her and gave her a cold glare. "You treated her like she was scum, complete scum, that is not how you love someone."

"You don't know the half of it," Griffin said as Kim gave him a slightly confused look and he shook his head. "It's so easy for you, you've never known anything but love from that man."

"You know nothing about me, absolutely nothing," Kim said as she glared at the man and he shook his head.

"I know more than you think," Griffin said as Kim laughed and looked away from him. "You will look at me."

"No, I see you, but I don't truly look at you, there is nothing inside," Kim said as Griffin took a step back and stared at the woman. He had not expected anything like this out of her, he had not expected to see a pain in her when she talked about all of this, but it was there and it was something he wished he had never seen. It made her human, it made her not a murderer, but a woman protecting her family.

* * *

"Chloe, I know you miss your mommy, but can you please give me some rest?" Tommy whispered to the wailing baby as he walked back and forth in the nursery. He knew that Kim did this night after night and he had done his fair share as well, but he had never heard her like this before. She knew Kim was gone and it wasn't her being gone in the normal sense and the child had picked up on it, both of them had. Wyatt had taken hours to get to bed tonight and now he was awake with her.

"Daddy!" Wyatt yelled as Tommy let out a sigh and walked into his son's room. Chloe had probably woken the boy with how loud she was being and he hoped he could lull him back to sleep quickly enough, he was going to need all the energy that he could gather before tomorrow. Work was going to be hell and he knew there was going to be a major ranger meeting, the likes of which they hadn't had in years. He was not ready for something like this and he did not like to think about it since he knew they were going to discuss how to get Kimberly back without killing any of them in the process. He honestly didn't see how that wouldn't happen.

"Wyatt, are you okay?" Tommy asked as Wyatt crawled out of the bed and walked over to him.

"I want Mama," Wyatt whispered as Tommy squatted down next to him and then held the boy close.

"I know, I want her back too," Tommy whispered as Chloe wailed and he gently patted her on the back. She finally burped and then let out a tiny sigh before she settled against Tommy's shoulder and was off into blissful baby sleep. "Finally. Come on Wyatt, let's get some sleep."

"I want Mama," Wyatt cried as Tommy gathered him in his other arm and carried him into their bedroom. Tommy stared at the bed and he took in a shaky breath. His wife was not there, in the place that she belonged and he could barely take it. He then turned back towards Wyatt's room and crawled into the young boy's bed and cuddled with his two children. Long after the two of them were asleep, he lay there, awake wishing his wife was at his side, lying next to him.

* * *

"Tommy, you look horrible," Gina said as Tommy walked into their house the next day to drop the children off for the day. He had done good just to get himself out of the house this morning with a shower and he hoped to grab breakfast on the way to the office.

"I didn't sleep any last night," Tommy said as she looked over at him in confusion. "Things have gotten worse."

"Where's Kim?" Gina asked as he sat down at the kitchen table and cradled his head in his hands. "Tommy…"

"She went to keep them from taking the kids, if I go after her, they'll kill her," Tommy whispered as Gina placed a hand on his shoulder and he looked back at her. "I can't do this, not without her."

"Wouldn't you rather her be alive and well than her die?" Gina asked as Tommy looked up at her and just shook his head.

"I don't have much of a choice Mom, if I let them keep her until they decide to give up, I'll probably go crazy. If I go after her, I will lose her, neither of those choices make me feel good," Tommy said as Gina wrapped her arms around him in a hug.

"You do what you have to Tommy, you get her back. Those children need her and you need her even more," Gina said as he barely nodded his head and then forced himself to stand. "Don't get yourself killed in the process."

"It might be the only way to get her back," Tommy whispered as Gina barely nodded. "I'm going to do this, I love you, watch the kids for me."

"I will," Gina muttered as Tommy gave her a hug and then turned and walked back outside. Wyatt and Chloe both began to cry as they watched him go and she could not help but feel that her son was not going to come back into this house, that he was going to die, saving the woman he loved.


	11. Chapter 11

"That is suicide Tommy and I will not let you do it," Kat said as she stood up and faced off with the man that she had dated all those years ago. The discussion had gone from bad to worse in the last few hours and nothing seemed as if it would work. Sending the new rangers in was dangerous, sending Tommy in had deadly consequences, sending an old ranger in was not going to be any better. Tommy had finally had enough and decided that he would go in, which had caused another round to arguing to erupt. They could not risk their most experienced ranger on something like this, they all knew that.

"What other choice do I have Katherine? My children know something is wrong, maybe they don't understand it, but they know that this is not the normal 'mama is gone', they know…I can't see that in Wyatt's eyes again," Tommy said as they all looked over at him, rather uncomfortable with what he was saying. In the past, they would have talked Tommy out of it and figured out a safer way, but now there were children involved and they couldn't take what this was doing to them. Wyatt and Chloe didn't deserve to go through all of this, just because their parents were Power Rangers. "What am I supposed to do?"

"Not this, you can do something else, we can do something else to bring her back to us. You just have to give us some time," Kat said as Tommy looked into her eyes and she saw the deep sorrow held in his and took in a ragged breath. She hated seeing anyone like this, but Tommy was the hardest person to see like this, he was such a strong person, but losing Kim was something he could not live with. The threat of taking his children had caused him to become a ranger again, Kim had gone to keep them from suffering a worse fate, but Tommy couldn't live without her. They all knew that.

"You have any better ideas? Any one?" Tommy asked as they all fell silent. None of them wanted him to do this, none of them wanted for him to risk his life in this way. They knew there was a chance that Griffin was bluffing about what he would do to Tommy if he came, but they also knew that there was a very real chance that he was not and that meant Tommy would die doing this.

"You said that you'd send your rangers, just yesterday," Billy said as Tommy looked over at him and glared.

"They don't even get along enough to be able to handle me, how do you think they would work together if they were to have to handle something like this? It's better if you just let me go, she's my wife, I'll bring her back, if it's the last thing I do," Tommy said as they all took in a collective breath.

"She doesn't want for Chloe and Wyatt to grow up without a father," Jason said as Tommy looked over at him and he rolled his eyes.

"This is not why all of you are fighting me on this, we all know that. You are more concerned about if I live and I am more worried about whether or not she will live through this, it's my choice and I want…no I need, to go after her. I couldn't live with myself if she never came back because I didn't do something," Tommy said as Billy loosened his tie and barely nodded before the multi-colored ranger rose to his feet and walked out of the conference room.

"Why did you let him go?" Kat challenged as she looked over at her husband and he gave her a half smile. "He's going to get himself killed."

"No, he won't and I let him go, because I will be damned if someone was to tell me that I couldn't go after you if you were taken, he has to do this and we have to understand that," Billy said as they all looked over at him. He was the only other person that had ever been close enough to have to deal with something like this and he had been very lucky. Katherine had been given back before he even knew she had been captured, Tommy had never been that lucky.

"Griffin, can you let me stand up, my back is killing me," Kim said as she looked over at the man that had her strapped to the table and he shook his head no. "Come on, I want to get back to my children in one piece, I'm not going to do anything."

"I don't trust you to keep your word to that. You're a ranger, you know how to fight and you take advantage of any chance that I might give you," Griffin said as Kim tried to stretch but it was useless. She was in enough pain to know that even if she was rescued soon, she would not be able to help them any. She prayed that Tommy would not come, because she knew just how serious Griffin was about killing him and that was not something she wanted to deal with.

"You're right, but I'm currently unable to move more than a couple of centimeters without my back having a spasm," Kim said as he looked over at her and noticed the true discomfort on her face. He did not want to feel sorry for her, he couldn't feel sorry for her if he was going to continue this scheme. All of the preparations had been carefully laid out and now all he had to do was execute everything. The fact that his informants had been found so quickly did bother him, they weren't supposed to be discovered. Now his plan hinged on what Tommy did and whether or not he'd risk his life for his wife.

"Five minutes," Griffin relented as he released the straps and Kim slowly sat up and stretched out her back. She knew she was pushing her luck just to get to have some freedom to move. She was not going to do anything stupid to get herself locked back down. The more that she could get him to trust her, the easier it would be to do what she had planned. She just had to be patient and allow him to fall into a false hope that she had really given up.

"Thank you," Kim said as she stood up and bent over to stretch out her back. Neither of her children had been good to her and had weighed over 8 pounds each, with Chloe weighing almost nine. Tommy had been so good during the pregnancies to help her and he still could tell when she would have pains from that. They hadn't talked about whether or not to add a third child, but she knew that day might not come if things here didn't turn out good. "Is there a bathroom?"

"You're serious?" Griffin asked as Kim nodded her head. "What is it with women and having to go to the bathroom?"

"I've been here for almost a day, be glad that I was able to hold it that long," Kim said as he barely nodded and then led her to the corridor that surrounded that inner chamber. Kim quietly memorized every detail of the building, trying to get a sense of where the exit to the outside was. She could not sense anything odd or even protected here, which meant that Griffin was just as cocky as he had been when he attempted to steal the gems from them. He didn't think that he could be beaten.

"Hello Jackson," Griffin said as Kim looked up at the man in shock. She could have sworn it was Tommy, but maybe she was already starting to go crazy from being strapped to a table for such an extended period of time.

"Griffin," Tommy said as Kim's eyes widened and she ducked as she felt the man next to her be thrown down the hallway.

"You came," Kim whispered as she held his face in her hands and she tried to regulate her breathing. "You came."

"What choice did I have? Come on, we've got to get out of here," Tommy said as she looked over at Griffin as he stood up and threw out a force field that knocked him unconscious, but she was sure that he would live and that they would have to fight him again.

"Tommy, I'm not really up to running," Kim confessed as he was dragging her along and he looked back to see the pained expression on her face.

"It's not very far until where we can teleport out, just hold out a little bit longer," Tommy said as the sirens sounded and he sped up, holding fiercely to her hand. If she did not get out of this place, he wouldn't get out of it either.

"Go, the kids need one of us there," Kim said as he turned back to face her and skidded to a stop before scooping her up and running again. "Tommy!"

"We've got to get out of here," Tommy repeated and she barely nodded as he ran and she saw the area that he must be aiming for and now there were several guards standing in the way. "Can you make another force field?"

"I can manage," Kim said as she brought her hands up and then threw out the force field and the guards went flying in different directions. As they reached the open air, she felt the familiar sensation of being teleported and smiled as she held on tighter to her husband. She couldn't believe that he had actually managed it and that he was not even injured.


	12. Chapter 12

"Tommy, what's wrong?" Kim asked as he placed her on the ground at Wolf Industries and he winced in pain.

"One of the guards hit me on the way in," Tommy explained as she spun him around and saw the gash in his back and grimaced. That was definitely going to hurt for awhile. "Come on, let's get up to the conference room and put some peoples' minds at ease. I'm sure that Billy can fix me up."

"Why did you come?" Kim asked as he gave her a weak smile and gently held her hand in his. He knew that she would get around to that question sooner or later and at the moment he didn't want to deal with it. He just wanted to hold her and make himself believe that she was perfectly fine.

"Later, right now I just want to enjoy having you back," Tommy said as she nodded and they walked into the building, knowing that most of the employees had left for the day. It was close to eight o'clock in the evening and the only ones that they were likely to run into were the night staff and even those people were not going to cause them any trouble. They had seen the both of them in far worse condition.

"So, how long do we give him before we send in reinforcements to make sure he's still alive?" Katherine asked as they all munched on their takeout supper. No one was going to leave here tonight unless they knew that Tommy was alive and well, which they were beginning to doubt. He had been gone for eight hours already and usually a rescue mission like this took an hour, at tops two.

"I'll give him thirty more minutes before we call in the rangers and tell them that they've got to go in and save the both of them," Billy said as Kat nodded and the others sat in silence. They had all exhausted all their words before Tommy had left and now were just hoping that nothing would happen to him.

"Now, now, why would we be talking about another rescue mission?" Tommy asked as he walked into the conference room and they all jumped up from their seats, prepared to give the both of them hugs. "Guys, I kinda need to be sewn up before anyone can touch me."

"So you ran into some resistance?" Billy asked as Tommy nodded his head yes and he turned around to let them see the gash. "You do need to be sewn up, come on, I'll take care of that. Nice to have you back, Kim."

"Good to be back. Where are the kids?" Kim asked as Tommy gave her a wry smile. "Your parents?"

"Just in case I didn't come back either," Tommy said as Kim gave him a confused look and he let out a sigh. "You were coming back, one way or another."

"Tommy!" Kim exclaimed as he just shrugged and pulled off his shirt.

"I know, the kids need the both of us, but I couldn't do it, not without you. Every time I looked at them…" Tommy trailed off as he closed his eyes. He knew that she could figure out what he wanted to say, but that didn't mean that she still didn't need to hear it. She saw this as a stupid choice, knowing that he could have left their children without a father. The way he looked at, he could have left them without a mother too.

"When we get home, we're both too worked up to talk right now," Kim whispered as she nestled her head against his neck and he just held onto her. It didn't matter the amount of pain that he was in. He was holding the woman he loved in his arms and that was exactly where she was supposed to be.

"Did he do anything odd?" Billy asked as he stitched Tommy up and Kim looked up and shook her head no. He honestly had done everything that a normal evil being would do, even if he was human. "I don't think he's going to stop."

"Neither do I, he's doing this for reasons that make no sense to me. He didn't care about Melanie, we all know that," Kim said as Tommy barely nodded. The two of them had fought on more occasions than he cared to count.

"He could just be power hungry. There are so many people in the world like that today," Katherine said as Kim and Tommy shook their heads that that was not the case. He wanted the powers, but it was not for the normal reasons. He only saw them as gems, gems that could change the world, not the power sources that they truly were.

"We'll have to think about it some more later," Tommy said as Kat nodded. They all wanted to solve this problem so that they could go back to their lives, but it wasn't going to be something that would be solved easily. "Our rangers need to come in tomorrow morning, we've got a lot to talk about."

"It's a Tuesday, it'll have to be in the afternoon," Aisha said as Tommy just nodded.

"I don't care, but it's got to be tomorrow. We can't fight many more battles like this, our powers have moved past this stage," Tommy said as Kim barely nodded. This had taken more out of her than throw Carla out the window had, they weren't protected like this anymore.

"I'll get the call out tonight. The two of you need to go home and rest," Jason said as they both looked over at him. "Well, I can at least hope that the two of you will get some good rest."

"Yes, you can and I'm sure we will, sometime tonight," Kim said as Tommy smiled. He knew with the condition of his back that it would just be talking tonight, but that sounded wonderful. There were a lot of things that he needed to get out of his system.

"Am I sewn up?" Tommy asked as Billy nodded his head yes and Tommy pushed himself off the desk.

"You're not going to stay?" Katherine asked as Tommy shook his head no and took Kim's hand.

"Our kids aren't exactly happy with us at the moment, so we probably don't need to be staying around here much longer," Tommy said as Kim looked over at him and she could see the pain in his eyes. She didn't know what was behind it, but she was sure she would find out.

"Daddy!" Wyatt yelled as he ran towards his father and jumped up into his arms. Tommy winced, but did not let on how much pain he was in.

"Hey buddy," Tommy said as he held him tight and his mother looked over at the two of them. She didn't see Kimberly, but she could tell that Tommy was relieved.

"Mama!" Wyatt yelled as he scurried out of Tommy's arms and into Kim's and she held him close. "You're back!"

"Yeah, I love you, buddy," Kim whispered into his hair as he wrapped his little arms around her and held her close. She could feel him shaking in her arms and she now knew what Tommy was talking about. The kids thought that she was gone forever and it scared them, it really scared them.

"You're back," Wyatt whispered as Kim nodded her head and looked back at him. "Mama."

"It's okay, I'm not going anywhere," Kim said as she wiped the tears from his eyes and he just wrapped his arms around her even tighter.

"What happened to you?" Gina asked as Tommy let out a sigh. He had known that there would be no way that he could hide this from his mother, even if he tried.

"An accident, it'll heal. Is Chloe asleep?" Tommy asked as Gina nodded her head yes and he walked into the living room and picked up the little girl from the floor, carefully trying to keep her asleep. Even if Kim was back, he wanted to have a peaceful night. "Shh, it's okay. I'm here."

"You going home?" Gina asked as Tommy nodded his head yes and she gave him a quick hug. "Call us when you get there. Neither of you look so hot."

"Thanks Mom," Tommy said as she smiled and watched the two of them leave. God only knew what Tommy had had to do to get to her and how long this day would haunt the two of them.


	13. Chapter 13

"They're asleep," Kim said as she walked into their bedroom and found Tommy sitting on the edge of the bed in his boxers and she grimaced at his wound. She knew that it could be much worse, but this was just one more scar that the two of them had between them that they had taken for each other. "How you feeling?"

"Okay, glad that you're home," Tommy said as he looked up at her and she walked over to her dresser and started changing. It was then that he saw the bruises that littered her sides and back. "What happened?"

"The straps were tight, I tried to get more room, but it only did this," Kim said motioned to her torso and he hung his head. "You got there as soon as you could and you got out alive Tommy, a few bruises are well worth that."

"I was so worried that wouldn't happen, when they hit me going on, I was sure that that would be the end of it," Tommy said as Kim looked over at him and then pulled on her nightgown and walked over to sit down next to him.

"I'm glad you made it, otherwise I would have had to bring you back to kill you," Kim said as he looked over at her and saw the smile on her face. "I love you, everything is going to be fine."

"You didn't see the kids after you were gone," Tommy whispered as he placed his head in his hands and gulped. "They might not have understood it, but this wasn't Mommy's gone to see a friend. This was just Mommy's gone and there was no time when she would come back."

"It would have been the same if you were gone, except I wouldn't have been able to hold myself together," Kim said as he looked up at her and his eyes locked with her.

"I lost it. I slept in Wyatt's bed, with the both of them last night, because I couldn't come in here and sleep. I looked at the bed and then I thought of everything, I couldn't do it," Tommy said as her arms snaked around him and he slumped against her. It had been a long time since he had felt like breaking down like this and he was sure that he would at any moment.

"It's okay. After fifteen years of things like this happening, you deserve to let it out," Kim whispered as he sobbed on her shoulder and she just held him. Of course this was going to be hard on them. With everything that had happened in the last few weeks had drained them of everything that they had built up in their reserves. It took years of nothing happening to feel safe and now they were back to square one.

"I can't do this without you, I can't. I never thought that I could before, but now I know that there is no way that I can be a father without you there. I was a mess, a complete and utter mess," Tommy murmured as Kim gently lifted his face up to look at her.

"You don't have to, don't worry about that anymore," Kim said and then gave him a quick kiss.

"Worrying is what I'm good at," Tommy said with a half smile as she gave him another kiss.

"Let me worry this time, come on, you need to get some rest. It'll be hell to pay in the morning if you don't," Kim said as he barely nodded and then climbed into his side of the bed as she climbed into her and snuggled up against him. "It's good to be home."

"I'm glad that you are," Tommy whispered as he carefully held onto her and she slipped off into a peaceful slumber, with him following soon after.

"Mama!" Wyatt yelled as he jumped onto the bed and Kim let out a groan and she looked up at her son.

"What time is it?" Tommy murmured as he stretched out and had to stifled a string of expletives from spilling out of his mouth.

"8, I'll get the kids up and dressed, you take your time getting a shower," Kim said as she sat up and he rolled over and let out a yell. "Honey, be careful."

"As long as I don't pull the stitches out I should be all right," Tommy said as he stood up and angled his head to try to see how bad the gash was. "Billy did clean it out, didn't he?"

"I think so…I wasn't really paying attention since you were holding on to me like I was going to disappear on you," Kim said as the baby monitor gurgled and she looked over at him.

"Go get her before she starts crying, we've got a lot to do today and not a lot of time," Tommy said as Kim nodded and then walked out of the room with Wyatt sticking close to her. He slowly walked into the bathroom and bent over to try to stretch out his muscles. He did not feel nearly as good as he had hoped and when he turned his back to the mirror he let out a sigh. That was a scar that was not going to go away, ever.

He fully undressed and then turned on the shower. It had been a long time that Kim had just sent him to the shower and taken care of the children. She had taken one the night before as he bathed the kids. The hot water his flesh and he hissed as it irritated the still slightly open wound. He stood there and let the water relax him. Today was going to be hell, there was no way around it. He had so much planned that needed to be done and it all hinged on the kids and the rangers and Kim…Kim was a very important part of this. She was the one that was going to have to give them hell about their abilities.

She knew how to push people to get where they needed to be and she did it in a way that they didn't usually hate her at the end of the day. He just pissed them off, that was his job, get them fighting and keep them fighting. Right now they needed to find the motivation to even begin a battle against someone, someone that would look human. Not like the monsters of the past that were distorted and looked like aliens, he looked like a person, hell for all intents and purposes he was a person.

"Tommy!" Kim yelled as he turned around and saw her standing in the doorway.

"Did you really need to yell?" Tommy asked as he stepped out of the shower and grabbed a towel.

"Well, you weren't answering me when I just spoke to you, so yes," Kim said as he looked over at her and smiled. "Turn around."

"Kim, it's not that bad," Tommy said as he felt her hands trace gently on each side of the gash and she sighed. He was playing it off as something that didn't hurt at all, but all his muscles tensed as he tried to keep his composure.

"Sure, say that to me with a straight face," Kim said as he gave her a concerned look. "They're in the play pen in the bed room. Billy called to say that he got in touch with the rangers last night and that they'll be here as soon as school is over. We have the day off, what do you have in mind?"

"Play with the kids, tire them out," Tommy said as Kim looked over at him. "Okay, I might not be able to do too much to keep up with Wyatt."

"He can play downstairs with you and me and Chloe can have tummy time and we can talk about rangers," Kim said as he nodded and continued drying himself off. She watched as blood stained the towel and let out a sigh. "You're still bleeding."

"Wonderful," Tommy said giving her a peck on the lips. "If you'll excuse me for a minute."

"I'll see you in the play room," Kim said as he squeezed her hand and she then headed out of the bathroom.

"Dr. Oliver?" Morris asked as he opened the front door and found the two parents lying on the floor with the kids asleep between the two of them.

"Hi guys," Tommy said, slowly pushing himself to his feet and they all gave him a concerned look. He had gauze wrapped around his torso because the bleeding just wasn't stopping, even Billy couldn't understand it.

"What happened to you?" Emma asked as Kim rolled her eyes. The girl only cared because she was getting to see Tommy's chest again.

"I got hit going in to get her, we think the blade was laced with something that causes the bleeding to continue, no big deal," Tommy said as they all stared at him. How could this not be a big deal?

"We've been in the hospital for a couple of months from our wounds, so this is not anything major," Kim said in explanation and they just stared. "Sit down, we're not going to do anything outside with how beat up he is."

"I thought we were going to train," Chris said as they shook their heads no.

"Then why are we here?" Morris asked as Kim shook her head and then stood up.

"Do you want me to start or do you?" Kim asked looking over at Tommy and he just shrugged. He wasn't ready to fire them up. "I guess that means yes. Sit down, you mind taking the kids for a little bit?"

"Not at all," Tommy said as the teens settled onto various pieces of furniture and Kim sat down on the floor in front of them.

"Is it so bad that the kids have to leave the room?" Matt asked as Kim nodded her head yes.

"Let me explain some things to all of you, and I do mean this in the nicest way possible, but you've got to get you act together. Tommy and I are the mentors, that should be it, there should be no mission or rescues in our job. Yet, he was the one to come after me, because he didn't trust you."

"You're his wife…it was his job," Emma said as Kim's eyes focused on her and she closed her mouth.

"Not really. He has no powers, that scar on his back is because of that. You want to know the real reason why he couldn't send you?" Kim asked as they all nodded, but Claire opened her mouth before she could speak.

"We don't give a damn about each other. Why would we give a damn about saving you?" Claire asked as Kim looked up at her and she barely nodded her head that that was in fact why he couldn't send them.

"You're serious?" Emma asked as Kim nodded her head. "We care."

"Like hell you do. You would throw Claire, Matt, and Chris to the ravaging wolves in a second to save your own ass. The only reason you wouldn't throw Morris away is because he's on the football team. I hate to say it, but the other four do work. You don't give a shit," Kim said as Emma was pushed back in her seat and she just stared at her. "I've been doing this for a long time and I know someone like you when I see them. You've got to get on board, put all your social expectations aside, not give a damn about how your friends would think about these guys, because they are the ones that will save you. Your friends can't do anything if you get caught in a battle, they all can."

"You don't know anything about image," Emma said as she sat up straighter and Kim rolled her eyes.

"I was a gymnast and one of the most popular girls at Angel Grove. Billy was a bit of geek back in high school, Trini was right there, except not as smart. Jason and Zack were jocks. Everyone expected me to only hang out with the jock crowd and I did, until I became a ranger. I knew Billy from some projects and Trini and I had been friends since kindergarten, but it was a shaky friendship at times. I was shallow, but when I became a ranger, I figured out that I couldn't be that way. I had to learn to accept people, all sorts of people. You need to learn as well."

"But you don't understand, no one will accept me if I start hanging out with them," Emma said as Kim gave her a sad smile.

"I do, because I thought the same thing for a little while and then Tommy came along and we clicked. He wasn't exactly what the crowd would have thought for me and there were times when I thought we couldn't make it work, but I love that man and I would have never given him a real chance otherwise," Kim said as they all stared at her. "We all have our secrets and emotions that we don't want the rest of the world to know about and we all have things that we aren't proud of. Emma, you were chosen because there is something in you that would make you a good ranger. Maybe it's not something that you really tap into too often, but it's there, you just have to trust us."

"So it's only a speech for me?" Emma asked as Kim shook her head no and then turned towards Claire.

"You, missy, are so scared about this, because you've been an outcast all your life and I don't know why. I've talked to you a couple of times and you're a wonderful person, but you have to believe that yourself," Kim said as Emma snorted. "Emma, do I really need to repeat what I said?"

"I'm sorry, but have you seen the way she dresses?" Emma remarked as Kim shook her head.

"I don't care to look like a whore," Claire said as the boys' eyes widened and they prepared themselves to jump in.

"What are you insinuating?" Emma asked as Claire laughed.

"You and all your crowd, with push-up bras, hip huggers, and thongs, you think you are so wonderful. I don't give a damn about any of that, I spend hours every day in a leotard, showing off more skin than you probably ever will on a regular basis and that doesn't bother me, but I will not wear things like that just to make some guy like me. That shouldn't matter," Claire said as Emma's mouth fell open. "I'm not you, I'll never be you, but I'm happy, which is more than you can say."

"How'd you know?" Emma asked as Claire looked over at Kim and she barely nodded to go ahead.

"Because you get joy out of picking on people like me," Claire said as Emma looked down and felt Chris wrap his arm around her.

"I…I'll try," Emma said as Kim barely nodded and then stood up to give the girl a hug. They had gotten through their first talk as rangers quite well. The boys didn't hold any real animosity towards each other the way that the girls did, now she understood why it was this way and she hoped that it would get better.


	14. Chapter 14

"Tommy," Kim whispered as she walked into the play room and saw the kids climbing all over him and she shook her head with a smile. He always did enough rough housing to keep Wyatt from running crazy and she appreciated it. "You want me to take them for a little while? The rangers want to talk to you."

"Okay," Tommy said as she walked over and scooped their two children up. "We've got to do something about this cut."

"We will when we go in tomorrow, it's not too bad, it could be worse," Kim said as she pulled the bandage and he groaned. "Hey, don't let them hear that. You've got to be superhuman in their eyes."

"I have a hard time believing that anymore. It didn't use to hurt like this, it was easier before," Tommy said as Kim settled down with the kids and Wyatt plopped down in her lap and she reached over for a book to read to him.

"You look like shit," Morris declared as Tommy leaned his head back and smiled. Yeah, he really looked like superman to all of them right now.

"Even Clark Kent had his bad days," Tommy said as the rangers laughed. "Did Kim lay into you pretty good?"

"Took care of us," Claire said as Tommy nodded his head that that was certainly what he had hoped would happen. The two of them were the problem that just kept multiplying the facts that were stacked against them. If they could get along, things would be much better for this team and they didn't even know it.

"Good, now it's my turn and quite frankly, I'm tired, sore, and bleeding. I'm not in a very good mood and I need the five of you to train, today," Tommy said as he saw the shock settle over them. "Don't worry, it won't be physical training, you are going to look over the ranger history and you're going to get acquainted with some of the other weapons we have for you."

"Wonderful," Morris said as the others looked over at him. "I want to know the truth of your past, in fifteen years as Power Rangers, you must have done some crazy things."

"Crazy is one way to put it," Tommy said as he went into the kitchen and opened up the hatch and then motioned for them to follow.

"Are you sure that you're fine?" Emma asked, turning on the charm, which caused Claire to roll her eyes. If Kim had been there, she was sure that Emma wouldn't be standing any longer.

"I've been worse Emma," Tommy said as he sat down at the main console and began typing away. Various menus popped up on the screen and he pulled up the video montage that he had created only a few months before. He had realized that this had become more and more complicated to explain and with the fact that they could go back and do capture videos, it worked.

"Wow," Claire said as the video began and she just stared in awe at the much younger rangers, guessing that she was supposed to know who some of them were, but she couldn't place them, at all. The progression of the video didn't get much better, until they got to some of the more recent teams and missions, then she saw the people that she knew and was shocked at some of the things that they did.

"You okay?" Tommy asked as Claire took in a couple of shaky breaths, trying to gather herself and was surprised when Morris wrapped his arm around her.

"Yeah, I'll be fine. I just didn't think this was what you meant by history. How can you live with some of the things that you've done?" Claire asked as Tommy settled down in the chair and faced the rangers.

"I'm not proud of some of the things that I have had to do in the past, but before you start casting stones at everything that we've done, I've got to explain some things about this world. Things aren't pretty all the time and sometimes things aren't black and white. When I was first a ranger, I only dealt with monsters and beings that weren't human, in the slightest bit. Over the last several years, there has been a trend of human leaders, even if they were just inhabited by some being. I will admit that this is the first time we've ever had our powers do this, but we've grown beyond all of you. In an ultimate battle, we'd probably do things that would border line on what people would call magical, but it's really a conflict of our powers, not something to be happy about. We are the only rangers that this has ever happened to and we don't know what they'll do next. Our lives are not normal, by any meaning of the word and if you ask most rangers to look at what we've done they would think we're crazy, it's not normal. We have no choice but to live with it and I'm sure it'll get worse before it gets better."

"That doesn't sound like something you should say," Matt said as Tommy looked to the side and then shrugged. He was actually restraining a lot of what he felt.

"It probably isn't something Kim would advise or even let me say if she had been down here, but I don't have the same sensors that she does. There's things that she probably said to you that I wouldn't have said, it's how we work best," Tommy said as the teens nodded. "Now, since you've seen the history and can kinda understand where we are coming from, weapons."

"Weapons?" Chris shrieked as Tommy just shook his head as he smiled. He could say that boy managed to make him smile, even about things that weren't appropriate.

"Yes, weapons. Each of you has a weapon specialized to your powers. Generally, there's a sword, some dangers, a lance, a bow, a battle axe and then the standard laser shooters," Tommy listed as they all stared at him. "There's a little bit extra for you guys, you'll have battle bikes, which are going to be used to lure the monsters to less populated areas. Your zords, well, follow me."

"To where?" Matt asked as Tommy just motioned for them to follow him. He did not want to explain anymore of this to them. He crowded all of them into a small elevator and they went down to the unknown bottom floor.

"Holy crap," Morris murmured as he stepped out of the elevator and into the Zord Bay. This was something that he had never imagined would fit under someone's house.

"As you can see, we started from the basement up," Tommy said as the teens just stared into the open space. "These are only your zords. We've got scraps in another floor and some spare zords for Kim and myself."

"These are ours?" Claire asked as Tommy nodded his head yes and he was surprised as the petite brunette bolted for her zord and the others didn't follow. She began climbing and vaulting up onto of her zord and the others looked over at Tommy.

"Go, it's yours to play around and get to know," Tommy said as Morris looked at the others and then bolted for his zord.

"Why are they so excited?" Matt asked as Tommy just shook his head.

"Usually you don't get to see a zord until it is given to you in a battle, go have fun and learn everything you can about them," Tommy said as the other three nodded and then headed towards the zords with less enthusiasm.

"Tommy!" Kim called as he walked over to the intercom and then clicked the button.

"Hey, I'm in the Zord Bay. What's going on?" Tommy asked as he could hear some stress in her voice.

"You need to get upstairs. Billy found something in the sample that he took," Kim said as the rangers stopped in their tracks and Tommy motioned for them to continue.

"I'll be right up," Tommy said before he stepped into the elevator and looked at the rangers as they played with their zords. They were just teenagers and he knew how much of a relief it was for them to be able to relax and actually enjoy their ranger lives. "Hey, what's going on?"

"It was laced and they're aiming to kill, snake venom, not enough to cause you to have a reaction, but enough to cause that to not heal properly. He'll have the anti-venom ready in the morning," Kim said as he just stared over at her. "If they had hit a single vein and if it had been properly dipped with poison…."

"I'd have been dead before I could get to you," Tommy murmured as she barely nodded her head yes and he hung his head. "He wanted to kill me, not you, this was to get me there the whole time."

"Yeah, pretty much. He just didn't know how strong you were," Kim said as he ran his hands through his hair. "And there's something else we need to talk about."

"What's that?" Tommy asked as he felt himself cringe. Usually when she said something like that, he was in for bad news.

"You know how Jason was joking about us having another kid?" Kim said as Tommy's eyes widened and she looked down at the floor. "I know it's not the best time, but…"

"You're late," Tommy stated as Kim nodded her head yes and he looked over at Chloe and Wyatt. "Three kids, under five?"

"Yeah," Kim said as she looked down and he looked over at her and saw how defeated she looked. "I should have gotten back on birth control sooner…"

"Kim…it's okay. I'm happy for another baby, even if I am a little bit shocked," Tommy said as he stepped over and wrapped his arms around her. "Look at me."

"Tommy, we're not ready for another baby, we weren't even sure we wanted…and I'm…I'm a wreck," Kim said as she broke down in tears and he looked down at her with a sympathetic gaze. "I'm sorry..."

"Don't be sorry, we've got to go to the doctor and make sure and we'll be fine," Tommy said as he heard the tears shift into sobs and he started rubbing her back in an attempt to calm her down.

"I'm sorry, I just…my hormones are out of whack," Kim sobbed as he let out a sigh and then kissed her.

"I know and it's okay, come on. Wyatt will enjoy looking at the zords," Tommy said as she barely nodded and wiped her eyes. "Beautiful, I'm happy, you just shocked me."

"I'm sorry," Kim repeated as she hung her head.

"Hey, are you okay?" Tommy asked as he gently held her by her shoulders and she barely managed to nod a yes. "Do you want this baby?"

"I do, but you don't…I can tell you don't," Kim said as she started shaking her head and just backed away from him.

"Kim," Tommy said as he took a tentative step towards her.

"I just need some time, so do you. Can you take the kids? I just want to go lay down," Kim said as he placed his head in his hands and then barely nodded.

"I want this baby," Tommy said as she barely nodded and then retreated up the stairs.

"Daddy," Wyatt said as he tugged on Tommy's pants. "Mommy sad."

"I know," Tommy said as he walked over to the play pen and picked Chloe up. "Come on, we're going to give Mama some alone time."

"Okay," Wyatt said, as Tommy grabbed his hand and he led him downstairs. His wife was torn up inside and neither of them had been expecting this. He wanted the baby, he really did, but he didn't know if he would be able to really talk to her. This was not the place that he had ever seen her at before and he was scared to death that she might do something drastic. She definitely seemed like she was in that place.


	15. Chapter 15

"Mom," Tommy said as Gina walked into their house and she looked over at him. She did not wish to ask why his torso was wrapped in gauze, something else was wrong with her son besides his physical injuries. There was a look in his eyes that she had learned to associate with his relationship problems, particularly when it came to Kimberly. He hated it when there was something standing between the two of them.

"Hey, what's going on? Your call was kinda vague about what was going on," Gina said as Kim walked down the stairs in a pair of Tommy's old sweat pants and a ragged t-shirt. It looked to her like she had been crying for hours and one look at Tommy let her know that he was just as upset and worried. This was not the normal stress or even something that had to do with the ranger world, it was something that was going on in their marriage. "Kim, hi, are you okay?"

"No," Kim whispered in a hoarse voice as she hugged her arms to herself.

"What's wrong?" Gina asked as Wyatt ran over to Kim and she placed her hand on his shoulder as he reached up. Gina watched as Kim didn't respond to him and she looked between her son and his wife. What in the world had possibly happened for her to be acting like this? "Kim…"

"It's been a rough day," Kim said as she looked away and they noticed how she was trembling. "Why are you here?"

"I'm not sure, just got a call asking to come up for the night," Gina said as Kim barely nodded and she then walked back up the stairs as Wyatt began to cry and Tommy walked over and picked the boy up. "What's going on?"

"We're having another baby and she's taking it pretty hard, we weren't trying," Tommy said as Gina's mouth formed an 'o' and she took in a deep breath, trying to understand it all. "We weren't planning it and when she told me, I was shocked and not like I was with Wyatt. It takes a little getting used to."

"So she's in this funk because of that?" Gina asked as Tommy just shook his head. "Hey, you need to go up there and tell her how much you care about her and this baby and that she is loved."

"I don't think that she doubts that Mom," Tommy said as Wyatt just clung to him, then the baby monitor went off and Tommy heard Chloe crying. "Can you take him for a minute while I get her?"

"Sure, if you can detach him," Gina said as Tommy pried Wyatt from him and passed him over to his mother.

Tommy walked up the stairs and saw Kim standing outside of Chloe's room, staring. He loved her so much, as a woman, as a mother, as someone that he loved desperately and he was scared that he would lose her. Right now the light in her eyes was completely gone and she looked like a zombie at the moment.

"Kim," Tommy whispered as he walked up behind her and she looked back at him. "I love you."

"I can't even remember what to do," Kim murmured as he took her hand and walked her into the nursery, where he placed her in the rocking chair and then brought Chloe over to her and watched as she cradled her in her arms. She slowly started singing as she rocked and Tommy sat back, watching her be a mother again. "Do you want another one?"

"If it's ours yes, I'll always want that, even if we didn't expect it," Tommy said as Kim looked up at him and managed a faint smile. Chloe quieted down quickly and Kim stood up and then placed Chloe back in her crib. "Are you going to be okay?"

"I just want to go to bed," Kim said as he closed his eyes and let out a sigh. "I still love you."

"But are you going to be okay?" Tommy asked as she shrugged and he gently pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to hold back the tears. "I need to know, Kim. I really need to know."

"I'll be fine, don't worry about it," Kim said as he looked at the woman in front of him and he wasn't even seeing the same woman that he known all these years.

"Do you want this baby?" Tommy whispered as Kim looked up at him and her eyes filled with tears. "I'm not going to judge you, but I want to know, I need to know."

"I just…I thought Chloe would be our last child and I had just lost all the weight and now…you have to think I'm so ugly…I'm going to get huge again. I can't even pull myself together for the kids," Kim said as the tears streamed down her face. "I want this baby, just like Chloe and Wyatt, I'm just really scared that you won't love me anymore."

"Why would I love you any less?" Tommy asked as she looked up at him and he smiled. "Come on, let's go to bed. I'll ask Mom if she'll get Wyatt settled in for us tonight so that we can have some alone time and you can talk to her tomorrow while I go to work."

"I can go…" Kim began as he gave her a knowing look and she buckled. "Maybe I can't."

"You need to be happy with this and stop thinking about how I'm going to react or if I'll love you less. You know I couldn't possibly do that," Tommy whispered as she barely nodded and then went to their bedroom and he walked down the stairs.

"You talk to her?" Gina asked as Tommy walked into the kitchen and saw Wyatt sitting on the counter top, watching her make cookies.

"Yeah, she's still pretty shook up," Tommy said as Gina nodded. "Mom, can you get Wyatt to bed for us? I really need some time with her, I can't let her keep thinking that I don't care. I want this, more than she knows."

"Being an only child can do that," Gina said as Tommy hung his head.

"Mom, I didn't mean…" Tommy trailed off as Gina just shook her head and grabbed his hand.

"I know, you don't want your kids to have that, because after we're dead and gone, you won't have anyone and they will. They'll have each other when you and Kim die…which hopefully will be in about fifty years," Gina said as Tommy nodded and he then gave her a quick hug.

"Thanks, for everything. I'm not sure the two of us could make it without your help," Tommy said as Gina just shook her head.

"The two of you have done things that I am eternally grateful for and you've given me two beautiful grandchildren, go talk to your wife and make her believe how much you love her and this new baby that's on the way, because right now, I'm not too sure," Gina said as Tommy nodded his head and then walked out of the kitchen.


	16. Chapter 16

Kim was curled in a ball on the bed, clutching her knees to her chest. She felt horrible, every movement made her feel sick and she was scared. It wasn't like her first two pregnancies, where she had seen the plus sign and felt her heart skip a beat. Right now was not a good time for her to have a baby. They were fighting just to keep the other children away from that bastard of a man. It was all too much for her to take and she had finally reached her limit with the ranger world. It had been one thing when it was just her and Tommy, but now it was their children and the thought of bringing another child into this mess left her in a panic.

"Kim," Tommy whispered as he walked into the dark bedroom. He just wanted to rip open the curtains and force her to look outside, but he was not going to do that, she needed someone to hold her and he was going to do that. "You want a bath?"

"I don't want to move. It makes me feel sick," Kim said as Tommy gave her a sympathetic glance and he then climbed into bed with her and wrapped his arms around her. "I wasn't like this with Wyatt or Chloe."

"I know. Everything has been rough these last few weeks, I'm surprised you even had time to notice you were pregnant," Tommy said as she looked over at back at him and he felt her cringe against him as she forced herself to not throw up. She had only had a few days like this in the past, but right now it seemed like it was going to be constant. "It's okay if you're sick."

"I don't want to be sick," Kim murmured as he sighed and then gently nuzzled her neck and he heard her let out a sigh. "You feel good."

"So do you, but I'm worried about you, I'm really worried," Tommy whispered as he felt her move away and he pulled her in closer. "I'm not letting you go that easily, especially after everything that's happened."

"I feel like a horrible person. I'm not ready for another baby," Kim whispered as he propped himself up so that he could look down on her.

"I figured that much out on my own," Tommy said with a smile. "And I'm not ready either, but it's okay. I think we have been through much worse, even if you maybe don't think that."

"No, I know that we've been through much worse and I just need a couple days to process it. Thank you," Kim said as his hands roamed up and down her sides and she felt herself relaxing under his touch. Her stomach still was in knots, but she was calming down and slowly becoming excited about the baby.

"Don't thank me, I'm loving you, it's what you deserve," Tommy whispered as she nodded and she then had to bolt for the bathroom. "Damn."

"It's gotten worse," Kim whispered as Tommy padded into the bathroom and sat down behind her. She leaned back against him and her head rested on his shoulder. This was not the first time that they had held each other when one of them was sick and it wouldn't be the last, it helped. "It's been like this every morning, but it really has gotten worse."

"How many weeks?" Tommy asked as she looked down.

"At least three, I just didn't realize at first, I was denying it, I should have embraced it," Kim said as he rested his hands on her abdomen and he smiled.

"That's our baby in there. He just needs to be nicer to you," Tommy said as Kim looked back at him with a smile on her pale face.

"What makes you think it's a he?" Kim challenged as Tommy smiled.

"A gut feeling…but I've been wrong before," Tommy said as Kim just shook her head and then pulled herself back up over the toilet. "Sprite and crackers?"

"Gatorade would be better, I need to stay hydrated," Kim said as he pushed himself up and then started to leave the bathroom.

"Don't disappear on me," Tommy said as she gave him a skeptical look and he then headed downstairs.

* * *

Tommy was careful to not disturb her the next morning as he detached himself and got out of bed to get ready for work. He knew that she would probably get sick when she woke up, but he wanted to let it go just a little bit longer. It had taken hours for her stomach to settle down last night and he knew that she had to go to the doctor soon, if for no other reason than to get medicine to help with the nausea.

"Morning," Tommy whispered as she rolled over in bed and her eyes barely opened before they closed again. "I gotta go to work, sleep good."

"Bye," Kim murmured as she gave him a quick kiss and he walked out of their bedroom and went down to the kitchen where he found his mom with the kids.

"How is she?" Gina asked as Tommy grabbed an apple from the table and then poured himself a cup of coffee.

"Better, she's taking to the idea better. She's just really sick," Tommy said as Gina gave him a confused look. "It took about three hours to get her to stop throwing up last night and I could still feel her stomach fighting with her after she was asleep."

"Daddy," Wyatt said as he reached over and ruffled his hair.

"Hey, buddy. Be good for Mama and Nana today and we're going to play tonight," Tommy said as Wyatt nodded his head and then gave him a hug. "Chloe, don't fling food at Nana."

"It's fine Tommy, she's used to just milk, but Kim isn't up yet," Gina said as Tommy nodded. "Do you want me to just stay?"

"Stay until Kim gets up and her stomach has calmed down, if you don't mind," Tommy said as Gina just shook her head.

"You know I don't…the both of you have had it rough lately," Gina said as Tommy just shook his head and then gave her a hug. "I'll talk to you tonight, we have to talk about what's really going on."

"Talk to Kim, if she'll talk to you. I've done everything that I could possibly do and…I want the baby, I was just shocked," Tommy said as Gina nodded. "This shirt hurts."

"I'd imagine that it would with that gash, Billy should be able to fix you up," Gina said as Tommy nodded and he then gave her a quick hug. "I know you have to go, but get home as soon as you can tonight. Your wife's going to need you."

"I know," Tommy said as he gave each of the kids a hug and a kiss and then headed out of the house.

* * *

Kim woke up to an empty bed and she felt the other side of the bed and let out a sigh. Obviously Tommy had not wanted to wake her up this morning, even if it gave her only a few more moments of peace. She felt horrible about how she had acted the last few days and she had to get herself together. She knew that if she called in a couple of favors, that she could get into the doctor's today and find out if the test had been right. She wanted him to be there, but she knew that he had a lot more to worry about.

"Dr. Simon's office," a receptionist answered as Kim just shook her head.

"Can I speak to Dr. Simon? I'm an old friend," Kim said as she heard the receptionist sigh. She was sure that people pulled this all the time, but Kim could actually say it. She had gone on a couple of expeditions with them, while she was in college and she had been Kim's OB ever since she got her license.

"Dr. Simon," Andrea said as she grabbed the phone on her desk.

"Hi, Andrea, it's Kim," Kim said as the other woman let out a happy laugh.

"It's so good to hear from you," Andrea said. "What do you have for me?"

"I think I'm pregnant again," Kim said as she heard the phone clatter and Andrea then picked it back up. "We weren't planning it, but it happened. I just need to confirm it with a doctor."

"Can you come in now?" Andrea asked as Kim looked over at the clock. She knew that the longer she stayed, the worse she was going to feel and she hoped that someone would be able to help how she felt.

"I can, it's probably best, I've been really sick," Kim said as she heard Andrea sigh. "The other two were nice to me."

"Don't worry, I'll get you something, but get in here as soon as you can. I want to make sure that this is what it is and get you back home," Andrea said as Kim barely nodded and she then forced herself out of bed. She felt the nausea hit her as she stood up and she barely made to the bathroom in time to hang over the toilet and dry heave, she had nothing left in her.

"Kim, how are you feeling?" Gina asked as she walked into the living room and she collapsed into a chair. "Can you eat anything?"

"I don't think I'm going to be able to, but I'm going to get in to see my OB today, just to get a positive and something to help with this," Kim said as Gina nodded. "Do you think I'm a horrible person?"

"No, you're a normal person and you weren't expecting another baby. I only have Tommy and if we could have had kids…I would have loved for him to have a brother or sister. It's just more than what you planned for, but he loves you and this family," Gina said as Kim nodded her head. She knew that, but it was hard to believe, especially when she was feeling so bad physically.

"I know, it's just hard to believe sometimes, especially at times like this. The look on his face when he found out was pure shock and I still find it hard to believe that he's all right with this, when we could have used a condom or something," Kim said as Gina looked up at her from the floor and gave Kim a wise look.

"There is a reason that you are having this baby, a reason that the two of you didn't slip on a condom, a reason you didn't get on birth control. You know never know what's supposed to happen in your life, don't worry about this, it's something that you can't control," Gina said as Kim just gave her a smile. "You gonna be okay?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine, can you watch them for a couple more hours and then I'll let you go home?" Kim asked as Gina nodded her head yes and Kim slowly stood up and she then walked out of the house.

"Mama's happy," Wyatt whispered as Gina nodded her head and Chloe rolled over in front of her. She smiled, knowing it was one of the first times that Chloe had done that, but she was going to let Kim and Tommy discover this on their own, it wasn't something that they needed to hear from her.

"Let's just hope things get easier," Gina whispered, not knowing that that was still a very long time off. She could only hope that she didn't curse them with more time than what was going to happen already, she didn't know if they would be able to survive that.


	17. Chapter 17

"I hope that you are appreciative, I'm having to cram this in between a six month check up and a first appointment," Andrea said as Kim gave her a hug. "You look tired."

"I am, I didn't sleep so good last night and I woke up about thirty minutes after Tommy left this morning. I think I've had to throw up four or five times already," Kim said as she walked over to the nearest chair and sat down. She was starting to feel it again and knew that crawling into bed when she got home was the only thing she'd want to do, but she had two other kids to take care of, she couldn't neglect that. "I know that the pee in a cup test doesn't take that long."

"It doesn't, but I do want to draw blood as a confirmation to that test as well, which I can tell you came back positive. Do you want something for the nausea? I've never known you not to be active," Andrea said as Kim barely nodded her agreement. "How's Tommy and the kids?"

"They're doing good, we weren't expecting to have a third anytime soon. Actually we weren't planning for a third at all," Kim commented as Andrea gave her a weak smile. She could not even begin to guess the amount of women that had told her that and she knew that when Kim walked in. After Chloe she had asked if they wanted another and they just smiled and said they were happy with the two they had.

"How's he taking it?" Andrea asked as Kim looked away from her. "That bad?"

"No, he's actually taking it better than I am. It's just hard to feel pretty, when you know that you're going to gain weight, have issues walking, have to get someone else to put on your shoes, not having comfortable sex, just things like that. It's stuff that I know he won't mind doing, but I hate being a burden to him," Kim said as Andrea nodded and then passed her a piece of paper. "What's this for?"

"Something I give my overwhelmed patients, explain it to Tommy. If you hand that to him, it means you feel like complete and utter crap and you just want him to love you. I know that he does, otherwise he wouldn't have put up with all the crap that goes on in your life, but sometimes you need to hear it and with a baby on the way that can be true more often," Andrea said as Kim nodded that that was the truth and she just shook her head. She was not sure that she was ready, but they had to be, there was no real choice about it. "You're going to be okay."

"I know and Wyatt and Chloe will have someone else to play with, so it will be good for them. It's just not a good time," Kim said as Andrea gave her a stern look.

"Getting pregnant during the middle of an excavation dig and waiting four months to tell your husband isn't exactly a good thing either," Andrea said as Kim placed her hand up to keep her from saying any more. She definitely had a point there. "You were lucky."

"I will give you that. Is there any way that you could just call me with the blood test results? I need to get back home before I start feeling sick again," Kim said as Andrea nodded and then wrote her a prescription.

"Get someone else to pick it up for you and I want you to take it to see what effects it's going to have on you while you are at home. It won't hurt the baby, but it could make you a little bit loopy, especially at your size," Andrea said as Kim nodded and then took the prescription from her. "Call me, at home if you have to, if that doesn't work."

"Thanks for fitting me in, I really appreciate it," Kim said as Andrea smiled over at her.

"I wouldn't be the best doctor in the world if I didn't do that for my friends," Andrea said giving Kim a quick hug and then walking out of the room.

"Kim, do you need me to stay?" Gina asked as Kim walked back into the house and let her purse fall to the floor, before she sat down her keys. She took in a slow breath and looked over at Gina, she was pale and barely able to hold herself together, but she knew she'd be all right. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, just not feeling so good, I can take care of them," Kim said as Gina gave her a concerned look. "I just want Tommy home."

"Call him," Gina said as Kim just shook her head. "Why not? You know he'll drop whatever is going on to come if you ask."

"I know, but we've missed work a lot lately and even if Billy is the owner of the company, we still are expected to be there a great deal. It's enough that he called in for me today and told them I wasn't feeling well," Kim said as Gina looked over at her and gave her a weak smile.

"I'm guessing you haven't really told anyone yet," Gina said as Kim shook her head no. "Tommy's the only son I ever had and I wish that I could have had children of my own, but we couldn't. I know that the two of you planned on stopping at two, but maybe there's a reason this child is going to be born, you just don't know it yet."

"Thanks, I kinda needed a gut check about all of it," Kim said as Gina barely smiled. "I know I sound like a horrible person."

"Raising a family is hard, even in the best of circumstances and the two of you don't have that luxury, but you'll be all right," Gina said as Kim nodded, feeling properly admonished. "Hey, it's all right, Kim. All women feel this at one time or another, you hadn't even decided to have a third child and you get one. Others usually feel this when they're trying to figure it all out."

"I just feel horrible, emotionally and physically and I worry about our marriage. I don't know, Gina, we had trouble with Chloe and now, we have a ranger team, a baby on the way and some demented psycho after us. I just don't know how we're going to make it," Kim whispered as she looked around. Wyatt hadn't come running to the door like normal, so there was a chance he was napping, along with Chloe. "Where are the kids?"

"Napping, they both went down pretty easy. You want to keep talking?" Gina asked as Kim nodded her head and they moved into the living room. "There have been times that I've doubted my own marriage, everyone has it happen. Have you talked to him?"

"When have I had the chance for that? I get captured, he comes and rescues me, I figure out that I'm pregnant, the bloody blade was laced with poison, he's bleeding like crazy, we're just running past each other and saying hello lately," Kim said as she let out a sigh and wiped her eyes. "I shouldn't be crying like this."

"You're feeling the strain of your marriage and a young family, it happens Kimberly, you just have to work through it," Gina said as she put her arm around the younger woman and she leaned into her.

"I've never felt it before, not with Tommy. I feel like something is wrong with me, like he won't love me anymore," Kim said as Gina looked at her in shock. She knew that it would be a cold day in hell before her son quit loving Kimberly, it just wasn't going to happen.

"What's going on?" Gina asked as Kim let out a sigh. Tommy would kill her if she knew that she was talking about this, but she needed to, she really needed to.

"Since Chloe, he doesn't…we've barely even…"Kim stuttered as Gina gave her a confused look. "He doesn't seem to want to have sex."

"Not as frequently or not at all?" Gina asked as Kim looked over at her in surprise. She didn't seem the least bit embarrassed to talk about her son's sex life and that worried her. "He may not talk to me, but he talks to Morgan."

"Not as frequently and when we do it just seems like he's just going through the motions. Right now sex is the furthest thing from my mind, but he used to care about that and how I felt," Kim murmured, embarrassedly as Gina just smiled at her.

"He still does, I know that, you just have to talk to him. He's your husband after all and I doubt he wants to hear that you think he's lacking in that department, but it's affecting everything else or everything else is affecting it, not sure which one is true for you two, but you can't keep going like this, neither of you can," Gina said as Kim gave her an odd look. "I've heard nothing from Morgan, but there's a lot of stress on the two of you right now, more than you've had in a long time. Talk to him."

"How do I do that? When before now I've never had any problem…I just feel like he's disgusted by me," Kim whispered as Gina shook her head.

"Has he ever said that?" Gina asked as Kim shook her head no. "I don't think he cares that you've gained five pounds between the two pregnancies and that you have a couple stretch marks on your stomach. He looks at your babies and it's all worth it, every bit of pain or stress that you have had, they make things all right, in both of your eyes. Talk to him, really talk to him."

"It's been awhile since we've had a heart to heart," Kim said as Gina gave her a look. "About time we really have one."

"Yeah, I'd say, if the two of you are having those sorts of problems," Gina said as Kim barely nodded. "I need to be getting back home, hope that you don't have a problem with that."

"No, I should be fine with the kids. Thanks for listening, I didn't know how in the world to even begin talking to Tommy about that," Kim said as Gina gave her a hug. "I'll see you when I drop the kids off tomorrow."

"Let me know how it goes," Gina said as Kim barely nodded and watched as her mother-in-law left and she smiled. Her own mother was miles and miles away and she doubted the advice would be as good. She just hoped that everything would work out all right tonight.


	18. Chapter 18

"Hey, you look like you're doing better," Tommy said as he walked in that evening and she gave him a hug. "Where are the kids?"

"Chloe is in bed. Wyatt is in the living room watching tv," Kim said as Tommy barely nodded. He looked at his watch and saw that it was 7:30 and let out a sigh. He hadn't seen Chloe at all today, but he knew that she'd wake up at least once tonight and he'd get to hold her then. He hated not spending time with his kids on days like today, but it couldn't be helped. "Supper's in the kitchen."

"You already eat?" Tommy asked as Kim nodded her head yes and he looked over at her. "You still don't look like your normal self."

"We'll talk after Wyatt gets to sleep, go ahead and get yourself some supper," Kim said as Tommy barely nodded and then gave her a kiss on the cheek. He wasn't going to like what they had to talk about, but Gina was right, they had to talk. Even if this wasn't the real problem, starting with it would be better and maybe they'd figure out what the real problem was.

"Daddy home?" Wyatt asked as Kim nodded her head yes and the little boy bolted for the kitchen to give Tommy a hug. She settled in on the couch and wrapped her arms around her upper torso. It was warm outside, but she was freezing, absolutely freezing.

"Let's sit next to Mama," Tommy said as Wyatt clambered up onto the couch and Tommy sat on the other side of him. "You cold?"

"A little bit, but I'll be fine," Kim said as Tommy looked at her and he let out an uneasy breath. The way that she was acting had him worried, even if she was fine with the baby, there was something else going on.

"Mama," Wyatt whispered as he climbed into her lap and Tommy moved towards the two of them and put his arm around her.

"You getting tired buddy?" Kim asked as Wyatt shook his head no and then let out a yawn that made Kim and Tommy smile at him. He was going to fight it as long as he could and they both knew that.

* * *

"They're both asleep now," Tommy said as Kim looked over at him and she then let out a sigh. "What do we need to talk about?"

"You might be mad at me about this," Kim said as he gave her a wary look.

"If you'll go ahead and tell me, we can find out," Tommy said with a smile as she led them back downstairs. She didn't want to go to their bedroom, especially if they got really mad at each other.

"I'm kinda worried about us and it's not just with the baby, it's some other things," Kim said, quietly, as he looked over at her and gently touched her hand. Whatever she was going to say was not going to be easy and even if he didn't want to hear it, he wanted to be there.

"What other things?" Tommy asked as he looked at her in concern. He was worried about what she would say to him, but he couldn't lose her, they both knew that.

"I want our love life to be more like what it used to be," Kim said as he let out a sigh and she stared at him as he looked over at her. "Ever since Chloe was born, things haven't felt the same to me."

"We can figure that out," Tommy said as she looked away from him. "But that's not it."

"I just…I don't think that…" Kim stammered as he gently ran his fingers through her hair and he felt her start shaking.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Tommy asked as she felt the tears start to spill out and she gently grabbed his hand to stop him from consoling her. "Kim…"

"It's not the same because how you feel about me has changed, hasn't it?" Kim asked as he gave her a completely befuddled look. How in the world could she possibly think that?

"Is falling in love with you even more a change?" Tommy asked as he grabbed both of her hands and she looked up at him. "Kim, why in the world would you think something like that?"

"Everything is the same to you?" Kim asked as Tommy looked away from her and then back into her eyes. "No."

"No, but I thought that you were happy, so I was fine," Tommy said as she looked down. "Hey, it took a little while after Wyatt as well, then things got back to normal for me."

"I never noticed it then," Kim said as Tommy pulled her in closer to him and he placed his chin on top of her head. "Why didn't you say something?"

"I'm fine as long as you are, obviously you aren't right now," Tommy said as she barely nodded her head yes and he nodded as well. "So I'm guessing that you and Mom talked."

"Yeah, we did, the kids went down for a nap when I got back from the doctor," Kim said as he gave her a slightly confused look. "She was able to fit me in this morning so that I could get everything tested and make sure. We're definitely on baby number three."

"You're okay with that?" Tommy asked as Kim nodded her head yes and he gave her a long kiss. She slowly pushed him back against the couch and settled above him before they broke apart.

"That's the same," Kim breathed as she felt his chest heaving under her as she tried to steady her own breathing.

"It's just the sex that's different, Chloe was a little bit bigger than Wyatt," Tommy said as he started focusing again. "And if you ever ask me again if I think you're not beautiful, I might have to do something."

"I can't help but worry, I'm not the same as when we first got married," Kim said as he gently rubbed her sides and he slowly sat up to where their eyes were on the same level.

"I'm glad that you're not the same, because then you wouldn't be a good mother and the wonderful wife that you've grown into. I don't really care if you're body has changed a little bit, you're still the only person I'd ever want to spend the rest of my life with," Tommy whispered as he shifted his weight under her and she placed her head on his shoulder. "I love you."

"I love you too," Kim said as her lips gently kissed his neck and she heard him stifle a groan and she then kissed the same area again.

"Kim, I don't want to do this right now. We don't know how far along you are," Tommy forced out as she looked at him and she saw the dazed look in his eyes. It was killing him to say those words, but she also understood. It was an old wives' tale that having sex could cause a miscarriage, but they didn't want to risk it until they were told that it was all right.

"I've got some dishes to do, why don't you go get a shower and I'll be up by the time that you get done," Kim said as Tommy nodded and she then got up from the couch and he then gave her another quick kiss.

"You need to get an ultrasound scheduled so that I don't feel bad for what I want to do," Tommy said as Kim smiled and then walked into the kitchen where she let out a blood curdling scream.

"Tommy!" Kim yelled at the top of her lungs as she heard him thunder back down the stairs and he walked in, in time to see the man that had been standing there disappear and the blood that was coming from Kimberly's abdomen.


	19. Chapter 19

"Check on the kids," Kim forced out as Tommy walked over to catch her from falling. She was scared to death that this was only a diversion for them to get the kids. Her health was nowhere near as important as her kids. "Tommy please, then call 911."

"Okay, hang on," Tommy whispered as he gave her a kiss on the forehead and then sprinted up the stairs. Wyatt had woken up from Kimberly's scream and was not surprised at all when Tommy came barging in, but somehow Chloe had managed to sleep through it and he carefully took her out of her cradle and carried her downstairs as Wyatt followed behind him.

"911 emergency, how may I help you?" an operator said as Tommy forced himself to remain calm as he placed pressure on Kim's wounds and kept an eye on the kids as they drifted back off to sleep on the living room floor.

"My wife's been stabbed," Tommy said as he could almost hear the intake of breath. He was sure that the woman was still new at this, but hopefully she'd be able to stay calm. "The man who did it ran out of the house before I could get him."

"I need your address sir so that I can send the ambulance and police department out there," the operator said calmly as Kim stared up at Tommy and he could see how she was struggling to keep her breaths even.

"7529 Pendelton Dr., Reefside," Tommy said as Kim grasped his hands and he looked down at her. She was losing more blood by the second and he could only pray that nothing had been hit that was important. The baby was honestly the least of his worries, if she didn't survive there wouldn't be a chance of another child.

"I need you to stay on the phone with me until the ambulance arrives, all right?" the operator asked as Tommy let out a barely heard yes. "Okay, how bad is the wound?'

"There's a good bit of blood, only one wound," Tommy said as Kim tightened her fingers over his. He could tell that she was panicking and he had to try to keep her calm, otherwise things would get worse. "Sweetie, it's all right the ambulance is on it's way, just stay with me."

"Don't let me go, please," Kim whispered as he placed his hand over the wound again and barely nodded his head. "I don't…I don't want to die."

"I know, you're going to be fine," Tommy said as she heaved in an unsteady breath and he leaned closer to her. "It's okay Kim, you're going to be okay. Just stay with me."

"Tell the kids that I love them," Kim whispered into his ear as he roughly rubbed her chest and her eyes opened again.

"No, you're not giving up, you gotta stay with me," Tommy said as the operator heard this and she gritted her teeth.

"Sir, how much blood can you see?" the operator asked as Tommy looked at his hands and then at the floor around them, the both of them were covered.

"A lot," Tommy said as Kim's hand went limp. "No you don't, you have to stay with me Kimberly. I can't do all of this without you."

"Is the ambulance here?" Kim asked as he shook his head no and he realized that she couldn't see him, her focus was far to the left of where he actually was kneeling.

"It's not, just hang on, it's only one, you can hang on," Tommy whispered as she tried to gather herself back together, but she knew that she was slipping away.

"Daddy?" Wyatt asked as he had toddled into the kitchen and Tommy looked over at him. "What's wrong with Mama?"

"Nothing, go back in the living room," Tommy said as Wyatt looked at him and walked over and put his arms around Tommy. "Wyatt, I need you to go back over to Chloe and keep an eye on her. I gotta watch after Mama."

"Daddy…" Wyatt said again as Tommy saw the tears streaming down his face as he clung to him.

"Okay, stay, just keep your eyes closed," Tommy said as Wyatt nodded and then buried his head against Tommy's side. He could just now hear the ambulance siren and he hoped Kim could hold on until they got her to the hospital. "Kim, I need you to stay with me."

"I'm not going to be able to," Kim whispered as he felt her hand go limp and he rubbed her chest again, but she didn't come back to him this time. There was still blood coming from the wound, so he knew she wasn't dead.

"Mr. Oliver, the ambulance crew should be pulling up any minute now," the operator said as Tommy took a deep breath. If they arrived too late, he might just kill them, after he got his hands on the son of a bitch that did this to her.

"I see them, I'll go let them in," Tommy said as he stood up and Wyatt clung to his leg and he quickly walked over to the door.

"All right, I'll let you go Mr. Oliver, good luck," the operator said as the EMT's ran inside and they looked over at him as well.

"Are you all right?" one of the EMT's asked as Tommy nodded his head yes and he led them into the kitchen. The two EMT's stopped in their tracks for a moment before they saw her chest heave again and they then moved towards her in one motion. "We've got to get her out of here."

"I'll just follow behind with the kids," Tommy said as the ambulance driver nodded, knowing that he would be unable to get in there with them and have the two kids.

"We'll take the best care of her that we can," the EMT closest to him said as he barely nodded. They rolled her out and he gently gave her a kiss on the cheek and he felt her hands grip his quickly. He loved her and he was scared to death that he'd get to the hospital and find out that he was a widower.

* * *

"What's going on?" Jason asked as he walked into the waiting room and saw Tommy covered in blood. "What the hell happened?"

"An attack, they're getting more personal now," Tommy said as Jason barely nodded as the others crowded around. They all wanted to know, but none of them had been ready to ask that yet. "She's in surgery, hopefully she'll make it through that."

"Have you called the kids?" Billy asked as Tommy shook his head no, he didn't see a need to worry them unless he really needed. "I think it's time that you do. We've got some serious revenge that needs to be dealt out."

"Revenge isn't what I had in mind right now. I'm more worried about if she's going to live. I'm sure that we've lost the baby," Tommy whispered as they looked at him in confusion. Chloe was sleeping in the car seat, so they knew that he was not talking about her, so what was he talking about? "We found out a couple days ago that we were supposed to be having a third child, I don't see how this baby could make it through everything."

"You never know," Aisha said as Tommy looked over at her. How in the world could she possibly think that this baby might have survived? "Kim's a fighter and if I know anything about her, she was probably more worried about whether or not the baby would survive than herself."

"I was more worried about her surviving," Tommy whispered as they all nodded. They knew exactly what he was thinking and they didn't really blame him for that, they could always have more kids, but if he lost her, she was gone. That was something that he absolutely couldn't deal with and he was terrified it would happen. She had at least made it to the operating table, she just had to survive everything else.


	20. Chapter 20

"Dr. O?" Emma asked as the rangers walked into the waiting room and saw him sitting on the chair and playing with Wyatt as Chloe slept in a friend's arms. "What's going on?"

"Hey guys," Tommy said as he looked up at them and they gave him a confused look. He didn't really look like something was wrong with him, but with all of the rangers there, there was definitely something wrong. They just hoped that it was nothing too major. "Kim's still in surgery, we've got a problem and you are going to be helping us with it. Jason can you keep Wyatt occupied for a little while?"

"Sure, come here little buddy," Jason said as Wyatt walked over to him. They all could tell that he knew something was wrong, but he didn't know what it was and he was too young to attempt to understand it.

"What happened?" Claire asked as Tommy let out a sigh and motioned for them to follow him out of the hospital. If there was any drastic news from the operating room, he knew that one of the guys would find him.

"Kim was stabbed at our home…I didn't recognize the man this time, so that means that there are more people working for this guy than we know. I'm not going to ask you to put yourselves in more danger than you are already in to protect my family, that's my job. I called all of you hear to give you the warning in person, you've got to be careful. If you see anything suspicious, contact one of the others, let them know where you are, just in case. Right now, they're going after Kim to get to me, I don't know if it'll spread to you as well," Tommy said as the teens stared at him. How could he tell them that their lives were in danger in be so calm about it?

"So, even if we don't like each other, we're going to have to be friends?" Emma asked as Tommy just nodded his head yes and a doctor walked out in the hall and motioned for Tommy to follow him.

"Go, we've got to get back home ourselves," Morris said as Tommy nodded and he then turned to leave them.

* * *

"Mr. Oliver, I'm Dr. Pershing, I operated on your wife. She is stable, although I'm not quite sure she's out of the woods yet. The weapon she was stabbed with seemed to be laced with some sort of poison, we're conducting tests to find out what it could be, but it might take a little while," Dr. Pershing said as Tommy nodded. It did not surprise him in the least bit that it had been laced with poison, the wound on his back still reminded him.

"When can I see her?" Tommy asked as the doctor gave him a weak smile.

"She's in recovery at the moment, we're going to move her to the critical care ward in a few moments. You can spend the night with her there," Dr. Pershing said as Tommy nodded and he let out a sigh. "We're still not sure about the baby, Mr. Oliver."

"What do you mean?" Tommy asked as he looked up at the man.

"Well, the knife didn't hit any critical areas that would concern the well being of an unborn child, but the stress that her body is under might cause her to miscarry in the near future. It's just going to take some time to tell whether or not this baby will live," Dr. Pershing said as Tommy barely nodded his head and then looked back up at the man. "Do you have someone to watch your other children?"

"Yeah, I've got some friends that can look after them for the next couple days," Tommy said as Dr. Pershing nodded.

"We're going to do everything that we can to ensure that she gets out of this alive, remember that," Dr. Pershing said as Tommy barely nodded his head. "I'll come get you when you can go in to see her."

"Thank you," Tommy whispered as he walked back into the waiting room and slouched down into a chair.

"Is she alive?" Aisha asked as Tommy managed to nod his head yes. "And the baby?"

"Only time will tell," Tommy murmured as the rangers grew silent. Even if the two of them had not been sure about having another child, they had grown to like the idea of having a third child in the house and now that might be taken away from them.

* * *

Tommy sat in her room in silence. The beeps of the machine did not comfort him in any way, other than knowing that she was still alive. The baby had been too small for them to place a fetal heart monitor and he just sat there and prayed. He wanted the two of them to be able to have this baby and for everything to be all right, but he wanted even more for her to live. They'd have another chance if they really wanted one.

He could not count the number of times that Kimberly had been in a hospital bed like this and he closed his eyes to try to protect himself from the memories. Life had never been easy for the two of them, but it had gotten much worse in the last few years. They had been through hell more times than they could imagine and it was starting to hurt them even more. It was time for them to be parents and not worry about anything else, it didn't seem like they'd ever get that pleasure.

"Tommy," Kim murmured as she tossed and turned in her sleep and he smiled. He had seen this before and he knew it would still be awhile, especially with the surgery, but it did make him feel better to know that she was still thinking of him.

"I'm here, rest now," Tommy whispered as he held her hand and gave her a weak smile. There was no doubt in his mind that he would get no sleep tonight, but she was worth it, especially after what had happened today. He wouldn't be able to live with himself if something went wrong now.

"Tommy," Kim murmured again as her eyes flashed open. "The baby."

"Hey, it's okay, you and the baby are fine for now," Tommy said as he gently stroked her hair and she closed her eyes again. "Sleep now, nothing is going to happen to you with me here."

"The baby's fine?" Kim asked as she sleepily looked up at him.

"It was too early to tell after the surgery, we'll find out in the next couple days," Tommy said as he gave her a kiss on the cheek and she managed a weak smile. "Please sleep Kimberly, you're going to need it."

"Okay, I love you," Kim whispered as she rested her head against his hand and he managed a smile. He knew that tomorrow would mark the day when he would start making plans to go after this man, but tonight, he was just a husband worried about his wife.


	21. Chapter 21

"Have we figured out why they're going after Tommy?" Rocky asked as the veteran rangers sat in a hotel room not far from the hospital. They had had to turn in for the night, but that didn't mean that they were done working.

"Maybe we're looking at this all wrong, maybe it's not Tommy and Kimberly that they are after, maybe it really is the kids," Kat said as they looked over at her in shock. Why would they go after a 3 month old and a 3 year old? "They're the most powerful rangers we've ever had, their powers have become a part of them. What if, by chance, someone has figured out that they have the powers? That they can't really be killed."

"They would have been attacked before now if that was the case," Billy commented as he looked over at his wife. "But that is a good lead, now that you mention it, they were asking me if there were ways to transfer powers. I didn't answer them, but if they were able to figure out a way…"

"Kimberly and Tommy's powers, if they were transferred…" Aisha trailed off as their mouths dropped open.

"It is the kids," Billy said as they looked over at him. "Kim and Tommy can protect themselves with the powers that they have. The residual effect that it had on them could have very well passed onto their children since they are the parents. It's stronger in Kimberly and Tommy because they know how to control it, they've had powers before. The kids, they just have it laying in wait."

"That sounds ludicrous," Trini stated as Billy looked over at her.

"Any better idea as to why our two best rangers have nearly been killed in the last two weeks? They stabbed Kimberly in the stomach, why would they do that? If they wanted to kill her, the heart would have been better," Billy said as the rangers nodded and then looked back at the sleeping children. "They're not going to like this."

"But we don't even know if this is what it is," Kat said, softly as she looked over at him. "Do you really want to worry them with this now?"

"If one of the children is captured, we won't have a choice but to voice our suspicions. We should tell them before anything else happens," Jason said as the girls just shook their head. "At least we should tell Tommy."

"I don't think he could possibly handle it any better than she could," Aisha said as they looked over at her.

"I'm pretty sure he could, he's more level headed, most of the time," Adam said as the males nodded and the females gave them concerned looks.

"He is, but that doesn't mean he deserves to know more than Kimberly does, they're her kids as well," Tanya said as Billy sighed.

"Kim has enough on her with this demented person coming after the kids, being stabbed, and worrying if the baby is going to make it," Billy said as Kat looked over at him.

"And Tommy has more than enough on him with this demented person coming after the kids, Kimberly being stabbed, worrying if they're going to lose the baby, worrying about the new ranger team, and worrying if this is only the beginning of the attacks," Kat said as Billy let out a sigh. His wife was right, the both of them had too much on them, but it was a matter of which one would take it better now.

"So who can have more added to their plate without a mental breakdown?" Tanya asked as they all sighed. Every one of them knew the answer, but none of them wanted to admit it.

"Okay, if we tell Tommy, how can we know he'll keep it from Kim?" Aisha asked as Billy looked over at her.

"She'll know eventually, but knowing now might not be the best thing for her, especially after the last week," Billy said, flatly as the women cringed. He had a point, a very valid point.

"Tommy has always been able to keep things from her if necessary. We should let him decide if all of this is unfounded first and then let him think about telling Kimberly," Jason said as the other nodded. "Now, I'd like to get some sleep tonight. Wyatt and Chloe can stay with us."

"Okay," Katherine said as she watched Jason and Trini take care of the small children before they climbed in bed as well. Tommy was not going to like this news, but he'd appreciate the fact that this might be a real lead as to what was happening.

* * *

Tommy awoke the following morning with a crick in his back and he slowly sat up. Sleeping against his wife's chest had never been this uncomfortable in the past, but it had also been years since sleeping like this had been necessary. He stretched in silence as he watched her chest rise and fall. At least she had made it through the night.

He was more worried than he had ever been in the past. It had been one thing when they had no children, but now Chloe and Wyatt were clearly in danger as well as the baby that was clinging to life in Kim's womb. He was hoping just for Kim to live, if this baby made it, he was leaving the ranger game forever. There was far too much in their lives to risk now.

"Tommy, good morning," Dr. Pershing said as he entered the room. "I take it you didn't get much sleep last night."

"Enough to get by," Tommy said as he heard Wyatt's laughter in the hallway and he smiled. "I'll be back in a moment."

"Okay," Dr. Pershing said as he walked over to Kim and checked all her vitals. He then looked at the morphine bag and smiled. Kim had barely used morphine, although the heavy sedation had prevented it for the most part. It was only a matter of figuring out how to prevent her departure.

"Daddy!" Wyatt yelled as he sprinted down the hall and Tommy squatted to pick him up.

"Hey buddy," Tommy said as he picked him up and looked over at Jason. "You're here early."

"We need to talk," Jason said as Tommy nodded and then looked back into Kim's room. "If she's still passed out, that's fine."

"Okay," Tommy said as the doctor stepped away from Kim and walked out without a word. Something odd was going on right now.

"You might want to sit down," Jason said as Tommy looked over at him and then settled down in the chair next to Kim. "We have a theory as to why they are coming after you."

"I'm not going to like this," Tommy muttered as Wyatt sat in his lap and babbled on about something that he hadn't quite caught.

"What if, they really wanted to come after the kids? Getting you and Kimberly out of the way would leave them defenseless. They would be able to pull away their hereditary powers," Jason said as Tommy took in a shaky breath and his hands tightened around Wyatt as he cuddled closer to him.

"It could be possible, but we don't know how to transfer these powers," Tommy said as Jason looked over at him.

"Billy's working on that. He's examining Chloe to get an idea of where she's at in this process. No one has come after Wyatt until now, we might have a little bit of time to figure this out," Jason said as Tommy sighed.

"We know this for sure?" he asked as Jason just shook his head.

"We're running on theories right now. We've got to check anything that we think might be a possibility," Jason said as Tommy nodded. He completely agreed with them on that point, he would have done the same thing.

"I don't know how to tell Kim," Tommy said as he looked over at his wife. He knew that this was only a medication induced sleep, so it was not peaceful, at all. "She's not going to like it."

"That's another thing you might want to hold off on that. The only reason I'm telling you is because we thought you could handle the news. Kim has a lot on her at the moment, so you might…" Jason trailed off as Tommy barely nodded. Kim wouldn't like it when she found out, but right now this was definitely best.

"So it's Wyatt and Chloe?" Tommy asked, hoping that he had heard him wrong.

"We'll figure it out for you. You just take care of them, that's all you have to do right now," Jason said as he stood up and Tommy placed his head in his hands. This was not good, at all.

"I'll try," Tommy said as he watched Jason walk out of the room and Wyatt started laughing again. Tommy took in the news and let out a sigh. Griffin was going to pay once all of this was over.


	22. Chapter 22

Kat held Chloe in her arms as Billy took her blood to compare to Wyatt's. Kim and Tommy had both given a bit of blood lately for tests with their powers. It would take hours to compare the samples, but it might be their first answer as well. Kim and Tommy could most certainly control their powers, Chloe and Wyatt could not.

Chloe screamed as the needle stuck into her foot and Billy's face contorted. He hated when any child was in this much pain, but this had to be done and it was better to do it now. Wyatt had been the primary target so far, he doubted Kim and Tommy wanted that to happen to Chloe as well.

"What did you do to her?" Jason asked as he walked in and Billy looked over at him for a moment.

"I've got to take blood, she'll calm down soon enough Jason. How'd Tommy take it?" Billy asked as Jason just looked away. That was like asking how he was dealing with Kimberly being hurt, they all knew the answer. He had not taken any of this well.

"Just like he would anything else ranger related. He took in a deep breath, looked at the condition Kim is in and began thinking about what he's got to do," Jason said as Billy sighed. None of them wanted for Tommy to go after these people, but they also knew that he didn't have much of a choice anymore.

"Do you think he'll tell her?" Kat asked as she stood up and started rocking Chloe back and forth. She was still wailing from the pain and Kat was not sure if she'd be able to any time soon.

"Eventually he'll have to but right now I think he's going to let her get well first. They're lucky she didn't lose the baby so far," Jason said as he watched them sigh. They all knew that Tommy couldn't take it, the first miscarriage they had had taken everything out of them. They had waited five years to try again and that gave them Wyatt and then Chloe.

"I know," Billy said as Chloe's crying began to dissipate and then she cuddled deeper into Kat's arms and fell asleep. "I wish this didn't feel wrong."

"What feels wrong?" Kat asked as Billy shrugged. He wasn't sure what the aching suspicion was wrong, he just didn't know what it was.

"I'm not sure, I'll worry about it later. We need to get this stuff processed now. Kim will be released in a few days, we'll need to know the results by then, to protect them," Billy said as they looked over at him.

"Okay, I just hope that you know what you're doing," Kat said as she rocked the little girl back and forth and hoped that she would sleep.

* * *

"Morning," Tommy said as Kim's eyes blinked open and she looked up at him. He had his feet propped up against the bed and Wyatt was napping in his arms.

"Hey," Kim said as she looked down at her stomach and over at him. "We're alive right? They didn't get you too?"

"I'd certainly hope so, considering that he's drooling," Tommy joked as Kim looked over at him and saw his smile. "How are you feeling? Besides sore."

"I've been better," Kim said as he reached for her hand and she grasped his tightly. "You don't look so good yourself."

"I didn't sleep well last night, between worrying about you and the baby, my mind wouldn't let me," Tommy said as she grabbed his hand gently and he longed to crawl into the hospital bed next to her. He hated seeing her like this.

"Sorry," Kim said as he just smiled and then gave her hand a gentle squeeze.

"It's not a problem, it's been too long since I've been kept awake because of what a demented being is doing to my family," Tommy said as she stared at him in shock. This was not her husband, someone had replaced him.

"You're taking this way too well. Where's my husband?" Kim asked as he smiled over at him.

"I'm still here, I've just got a lot on my mind. It's not just you to worry about this time," Tommy said as his arms tightened around Wyatt and the boy began to snore ever so slightly.

"Don't worry about me, I'll be fine. I need you to take care of the kids," Kim whispered as he just shook his head. He knew that she was far too weak to be able to protect them now.

"It's hard not to worry about you when you were stabbed and you're pregnant with my child. I can't forget to worry about you, to protect you," Tommy said as she grimaced before pushing herself up to a seated position.

"I'm not sure if…" Kim muttered as he placed a hand over hers and she looked over at him.

"You were last night. The doctor is going to come by sometime today and d a thorough examination. She'll let us know how likely it is that you'll miscarry," Tommy whispered as he reached up and wiped his eyes. He did not want to tell her any of this.

"Do I have to be here for that?" Kim asked as he sensed the nervousness in her voice and he sighed. There was nothing that he could say to comfort her about this, there was no way he could even comfort himself. They couldn't lose the baby or either of their children.

"Kim, I wouldn't do this if I thought we'd have a better chance of knowing some other way, I don't want to go through it anymore than you do," Tommy whispered back as his hands shook.

"I know, I just don't want to deal with this," Kim whispered back as he stood up and placed Wyatt down in his chair, before he leaned down over her and then pulled her into his arms.

"Neither do I," Tommy muttered as her hands tightened around him.

"Where's Chloe?" Kim finally asked as she noticed that only one child was with him at the moment.

"With the guys, she's not in as much danger as Wyatt," Tommy whispered as he leaned back and looked down at her.

"I guess that makes sense, but you won't tell me why, not yet," Kim whispered as he gently laid her back down in bed and he barely nodded. She knew that there was something else going on and she also knew that Tommy wouldn't tell him until he was good and ready, especially considering that he wanted her and the baby to live.


	23. Chapter 23

Billy sat in front of the computer staring at the results in complete and utter shock. He had had theories that Kim and Tommy's children would be different, but this had never crossed his mind. Now he knew why they were being targeted, but he had not even begun to come up with a solution. At least not one Tommy ad Kim would be willing to use.

"It's okay," Kat murmured as she gently slapped Chloe on the back, hoping that she would burp. The formula she had given her was not sitting well with the baby girl and she now knew why Kim was reluctant to give her formula. "What have you found?"

"Well I have good news and I have bad news," Billy said as his hands tightened over the keyboard and he tried to steady himself, even he didn't like what he was seeing.

"Tell me the bad first," Kat said as Chloe finally burped and then sighed as she nestled against Kat's shoulder.

"I don't know how to stop the people from coming after the kids, without something bad happening to them," Billy said as Kat looked over at him. He didn't like the way this sounded or how it was going in the least bit.

"And the good news?" Kat asked as he shrugged.

"I know why they've been coming after the kids," Billy whispered as he reached up for Chloe and took the little girl into his arms.

"Do I want to know why?" Kat asked as he just shook his head.

"That all depends, it's not exactly something that I'm thrilled with finding," Billy said as she rested her hands on his shoulders and he sighed.

"Just tell me, I can deal with it, I promise," Kat said as she watched him close his eyes.

"Kim and Tommy passed on their now natural power to their children," Billy said as he watched her eyes grow in shock.

"So why haven't they come after them before?" Kat asked as Billy looked down at the little girl and began rocking back and forth.

"Because Wyatt's are in an active state. If he knew how to use them, he would be able to protect himself, but he doesn't have that sort of control yet," Billy said as he watched his wife let out a near shriek.

"And Chloe?" Kat asked as she held the little girl tighter and he gave her a sympathetic look. He had no idea how long it would be before Chloe's powers began active as well.

"Her genes are dormant at the moment, there's no telling when they might become active," Billy said as Kat sat down in his lap and he just shook his head.

"So how can this be fixed. You know that are going to want a solution, not just more problems," Kat said as his hands tightened around her.

"I don't know, this may very well be why Kim and Tommy pulled out of the real ranger world several years ago, after they lost Jake. If their powers attract things like this when they are being actively used, I can't blame them, especially if this had something to do with losing Jake," Billy said as Kat nodded. She could see how that could definitely affect Tommy and Kimberly in this game.

"But it's not Kim and Tommy's powers doing this," Kat said as he just shook his head.

"Because they've learned to control it over the years, the kids don't have a chance at that sort of control," Billy said as Kat just sighed. How were they going to explain this to Kim and Tommy?

* * *

Kim sat in the hospital bed and read a book as she waited for Tommy to return with something suitable to eat. Hopefully she'd be released this afternoon and be allowed to go home. Dr. Simon had come by yesterday and given her a full exam which concluded with being told that she was on bed rest for at least two weeks. It sounded impossible but she knew Tommy would try his best to guarantee that she got the time in bed that she needed, but she doubted it would happen.

"Mama!" Wyatt yelled happily as Tommy looked over at her and she smiled. He then placed the ice cream she had asked for in the front of him and she smiled. "Mama!"

"Pick him up for me, please," Kim said gently as Tommy reached down and then placed him on the bed next to her. "You look better."

"I got to sleep last night, although it seemed that Billy didn't get any sleep," Tommy said as Kim gave him a confused look. Why had Billy gone without sleep?

"Why's that?" Kim asked as he shrugged, he had no clue why.

"He called me this morning, sounding like death warmed over. He has some news that he needs to discuss with us as soon as possible," Tommy said as he reached over for her hand and she smiled at him.

"That's never good coming from him," Kim said as Wyatt tried to eat the ice cream with his hands and she quickly grabbed them.

"I know, but he refused to tell me what was going on over the phone. He said they were going to bring Chloe up with them tonight," Tommy said as she gave him a bewildered look. Neither of them minded the drive to Angel Grove, they actually needed an excuse to get away from their home for a little bit.

"Tommy, he doesn't…" Kim began as he just shook his head. He knew, but he was not sure he wanted to say anything right now.

"He wants to, I told him we'd come up there as well," Tommy said as she looked over at him in confusion and just shook her head.

"Okay…I guess I can't argue with that," Kim said as he looked over at them and then decided to crawl into the hospital bed with them.

"Neither could I," Tommy said as Wyatt looked up at the two of them. They could tell the boy was wondering why he was getting all of this extra attention all of the sudden.

"Wyatt don't…" Kim began as the ice cream jumped into his hands and Kim shook her head to make sure she had seen that right. "Tommy…"

"I know, he's been doing that more lately. He's figured out that he can get things that he wants even if we don't give it to him," Tommy said as Kim let out a sigh. She was tired and just wanted to go home to sleep in her own bed.

"Yeah, but we only ever had that happen when our powers went haywire," Kim said as he gently stroked her hair and she managed to smile over at him. He was the only person that could make her feel like this.

"Well, it's a reason to come after him, one that scares me more than anything else," Tommy said as Kim just stared at him. She was scared of him saying something like that, because she knew his point.

"That's exactly the thing I want to hear in a hospital bed after being stabbed," Kim said as he placed his arms around her and she just slumped against him as Wyatt looked up at the two of them.

"Don't act like you've never thought of it before," Tommy said as she just shook her head.

"I have but, if that's happening then it's our fault. Our children wouldn't be going through this if it wasn't for us," Kim said as he felt her body start shaking and he just pulled her closer.

"It's not a disease Kim, we've always dealt with this without a problem," Tommy said as she continued to shake in his arms. None of this was making her feel better.

"It might as well be for what it might cost them," Kim whispered as he closed his eyes and then rested his head on top of hers. He was not going to even try to say anything else, knowing that it would just make it worse. He was just going to hold her and that would be enough.

* * *

Billy made sure he would have reinforcements when he dealt with Kim and Tommy tonight. God bless his wife for managing to get their kids dressed and ready in record time. He knew just as well as she did that Kim and Tommy were not afraid to express their opinions on these sorts of matters. With the kids there, he at least knew that they weren't going to kill him, especially since he had no solution for the problem.

"No need to worry Billy. Tommy took the news well enough earlier," Kat said as he looked over at her. He was scared to death to tell Tommy this news, even if they were friends, it was not very likely that he would be in a good mood after hearing this. Actually he was sure that Tommy might kill him.

"Tommy has also dealt with things more directly in the past, he tries to leave Kim out if he can help it," Billy said as he reached up for the doorbell and rang it once. He was sure that the two of them could easily hear it.

"Don't worry at least there's an answer, now we can work on a solution," Kat said as Billy just looked over at him.

"You think that Tommy is going to take that well?" Billy asked as Kat just sighed. He had a point, she just didn't want to admit it. Tommy quietly opened the door and saw Billy and his entire family standing there.

"You must have news that I don't like," Tommy said as he looked at them and just shook his head.

"What makes you say that?" Kat asked, innocently, Tommy just looked at them. He knew this method, he had used it before by bringing Kim and Wyatt along when he had bad news.

"You didn't have to bring your family as a witness, but come on in. I'm sure Wyatt would like to play with Kody," Tommy said as he ushered them in and Billy just looked over at him. He knew that this was going to be hard on them, very hard.

"Where's Kim?" Kat asked as Chloe looked up to see Tommy and automatically reached for him. He reached over and pulled her into his arms and she snuggled against him quickly.

"On the couch, she's been instructed to be careful for the next few weeks," Tommy whispered as the boys ran off to find Wyatt and they looked over him.

"She didn't miscarry?" Billy whispered as Tommy just looked down he was really worried it would happen. She should have miscarried with the stab wound, he knew that, but for some reason their child had been spared, this time at least.

"Not yet and hopefully she won't," Tommy whispered as Billy placed a hand on his shoulder. There was nothing that he could do to comfort them, but they could all hope that the baby would be fine.

"How's she feeling?" Kat asked as Tommy just shook his head. He didn't really want to tell her if he could help it.

"Okay for just being stabbed, supper is on the way," Tommy said as they walked towards the living room and Chloe started gurgling.

"I thought you could cook," Kat joked as Tommy just shook his head. He could, but he couldn't do that tonight.

"Not tonight. Wyatt's hyper, Kim isn't supposed to even walk and I'm exhausted. How was she?" Tommy asked as Chloe continued to gurgle.

"She was a little fussy last night, but other than that she was fine," Kat said as Tommy nodded. She didn't like when she was away from home more than a night without Kim.

"Hey guys," Kim said as Tommy leaned down and placed Chloe on her chest, where she happily situated herself. "What's the news?"

"Why don't we wait until after supper?" Billy suggested as Kim looked over at Tommy and they exchanged a glance. This must be really bad news for them to want to wait.

"I'm good, are you?" Kim asked as Tommy looked over at her and smiled and then nodded.

"Okay then, we've been able to determine why they are coming after Wyatt," Billy said as Kim and Tommy just stared at him and Tommy then reached over for her hand. "The powers that the two of you have were transferred into them. You and Kim know how to use them to protect your selves, Wyatt doesn't. If someone was able to transfer the powers out of the children, they'd be on equal footing with you."

Kim and Tommy took a moment to let it all sink in, this had never been something they'd imagined hearing. They could hear Wyatt and Kody babbling away in the next room and neither of them could seem to draw breath. They could not lose their son over this.

"Kim…" Kat said tentatively as she shook her head and looked up at her.

"Why do I have a feeling that things are about to get worse?" Kim asked as Tommy gently rubbed her hand.

"Because there is no known way to contain these powers, taking their blood is one thing, experimenting on them is another. They're just kids," Billy said as Tommy barely nodded.

"So you need us as guinea pigs?" Kim asked as Tommy looked over at her and barely shook his head. There was no way in hell that he was going to allow her to do anything like that.

"I would prefer it to be Tommy, not you," Billy said as Tommy barely nodded his head in agreement and Kim just sighed.

"So would I, that's why they went after the baby," Tommy whispered as he hung his head and tried to keep himself calm.

"From what we can tell yes, although I don't know how they'd figure out she was pregnant," Billy said as Kim let out a sigh.

"The same way that Carla did," Kim whispered as Tommy looked over at her. He didn't want to ask how Carla had found out, it would probably be too much.


	24. Chapter 24

Over the next week Tommy acted as if life for the two of them had not changed. He dropped Chloe and Wyatt off at his parents and worked like normal. What was happening inside at work however, was anything but the norm. He went into work exhausted and left in even worse condition. He barely saw his family anymore and Kim was taking it much harder than the kids, but all of this had to be done.

"Tommy," Kim said as he walked in that evening with the kids and she slowly walked over to greet him. She was sore beyond belief and in great need of her husband. "How was it today?"

"More of the same," Tommy said as he sat down at the table and then placed Chloe in her high chair. "What's wrong?"

"You'll hate me for saying it so I won't," Kim said as she sat down next to Wyatt and Tommy looked over at her. She had been taking his absence hard and he knew that, but there was no way he'd let Billy experiment on her. He couldn't face her losing the baby because of something like that. "Are you going in tomorrow?"

"I should," Tommy said as he fed Chloe, but kept an eye on his wife, she had to be thoroughly pissed at him by now.

"Okay," Kim whispered back as Wyatt stopped jabbering at her and just looked between the two of them. He might only be three, but he could sense that trouble was brewing between the two of them.

"Don't, Kim I'm doing this for them and the sooner it's done the better," Tommy said as her eyes narrowed at him. That was when he knew he was in more trouble than he had ever suspected.

"I've barely seen you in passing lately. You're my husband, I deserve to at least see you for more than two seconds each day," Kim said as Wyatt resorted to eating his food with his hands and she just pushed away her plate.

"We've had times like this in the past," Tommy murmured as he looked up at her and saw that right now was not a time to compare to the past. He just hoped that she didn't kill him immediately.

"Yes, but I can't stand just seeing you stumble into bed and stay up for a few minutes before fainting," Kim said as she stood up and he stared at her. This was not going to be good, he could tell.

"Billy's getting close, you just have to give us some time, it'll all be solved. I'll be home Sunday, I promise," Tommy said as he watched her eyes fill with tears and he let out a long sigh.

"You promised to go with me to the doctor today as well," Kim snapped as he squeezed his eyes shut and felt the tears welling up in his own eyes.

"Why didn't you call?" Tommy forced out as the lump in his throat got bigger and he knew that his own resolve would break soon.

"Because you were supposed to remember, I shouldn't have had to call you," Kim said as she left the room and Tommy then placed his head on the table. They had to fix this quickly or he was going to lose Kim.

* * *

"You look like hell," Billy welcomed as Tommy walked in and then walked over to the coffeepot and quickly poured himself a cup. Last night had been hell and he was willing to bet that tonight would be just as bad if he came home without an answer to this question.

"I slept on the couch last night," Tommy stated as Billy gave her a confused look. He could tell that Tommy was leaving some things out, but he probably didn't want to know what the real problem was, especially if Kim was irritated with him.

"Do I want to know why?" Billy asked as Tommy just shook his head. It was then that Billy understood that there would be no point to ask any more questions. Tommy wouldn't tell him.

"We've just got to figure this out soon. Kim can't take much more of me like this," Tommy whispered as he started unbuttoning his shirt and then pulled off his undershirt.

"So you want to try a full drain and restore?" Billy asked as he looked over at the leader of the rangers and realized just how much pain he was in from all of this.

"Kim won't be able to take another week like this one," Tommy whispered as Billy barely nodded.

"Are you up for it?" Billy asked as Tommy just shrugged. It didn't matter what he was up for any more, his wife and children were paying for it every day that they worked on trying to figure this out.

"I'm not sure, but you know as well as I do that when your wife lets you sleep on the couch, that things are going to go downhill in a hurry," Tommy said as Billy just stared at him. He had never heard of things getting this bad with them before now.

"You may want to give Kim a call," Billy said as Tommy just shook his head. He was not going to attempt that when he knew the trouble it might cause her.

"No, she has enough on her and she's not supposed to be stressed anymore than she is already. Let's just get this over with," Tommy whispered as he lay himself down on the cot and tried to relax.

"If you pass out?" Billy asked as he watched Tommy close his eyes.

"Keep going, we know this will work," Tommy said as Billy grimaced. He had hoped that Tommy would never become this desperate.

"Okay if your wife kills me, I'm going to haunt you until the end of your days," Billy joked as Tommy just smiled.

"She'd get to me first, we both know that, so I'm pretty sure that you're safe," Tommy said as Billy barely nodded, that much was something that he could definitely agree with.

"So I'm guessing it wouldn't e wise to call her if things go wrong?" Billy asked as Tommy laughed.

"Only if you never want to be able to have children again," Tommy joked as Billy barely nodded. Kim would kill the both of them if she found out about this.

"Okay, point well taken," Billy said as he watched Tommy take in an unsteady breath.

Tommy then lowered himself onto the steel table and let out a sigh. He knew that the draining would be fairly easy, he was just worried that the reintroduction would be too much. He was willing to do anything for his family, anything that would get things back to normal for them. He couldn't lose them because of them.

He felt himself drifting off to sleep as Billy performed the power drain. They had managed to make containers of some metal, that Billy refused to identify, to contain the powers until Tommy decided or was forced to take them back. Now was the only time that they would ever hold his full powers and he desperately hoped this worked, at this point he didn't know what would happen if it failed.

"You enjoy your nap?" Billy asked as Tommy's eyes opened and he winced from the light. This was the last thing that he wanted to deal with.

"Of course, since the next part is as close to living hell as I have ever been," Tommy said as he stretched out his back and then settled again against the table.

"If you think of it that way, then of course it's going to be bad," Billy countered as Tommy's eyes closed.

"You know, we still have to figure out where to put the kids powers until they're old enough to decide if they want them," Tommy stated, as he tried to put off the inevitable for as long as he could.

"I've decided where they'll go, you might not like it though," Billy said as Tommy's eyes closed.

"And Kim can't put her body through something like that right now," Tommy stated as he held out his arm and cringed.

"We have a little while before Chloe's powers will have to be taken, she should be all right by then," Billy said as Tommy just stared at him. At least the two of them would have a little while.

"Why would I take all of Wyatt's powers?" Tommy asked in confusion.

"Because they are closely related to your own, Kim throws force fields and can pull, push or otherwise move objects. You have a force field as well, but it is used to protect and also to keep one from moving into harm's way. They work together in tandem," Billy explained as Tommy just sighed. This was all something that he had heard before, he just didn't want to face it.

"Wyatt can move things though," Tommy remarked as Billy just stared at him.

"His profile matches yours exactly how can that be?" Billy asked as he stood up and walked around in shock.

"Because even I have the latent ability to do some of the things that Kim can, I just don't do them very well," Tommy said as he barely shook his head.

"But he's doing the things that she does now?" Billy asked as Tommy nodded. He understood it though, even if no one else did.

"When you're three you're much more likely to pull something into your hands that you want, than you are to place a force field around something to hold it in place," Tommy said as Billy just shook his head. He did have a very good point.

"I want to conduct the test again, just to make sure. It could be dangerous to put unknown powers in your body," Billy said as Tommy's eyes closed.

"She can't lose the baby," Tommy whispered as Billy reached over for his arm and Tommy then looked up at him.

"I know, but we have to make sure that we won't lose you either. Are you ready?" Billy asked as Tommy nodded and he sighed. He was not going to like this, no matter what.

"Ready as I'll ever be," Tommy whispered as he clutched the sides of the metal bed and tried to prepare for what was ahead.

"No calling Kim?" Billy checked as Tommy let out a gasp.

"Do whatever you think is best," Tommy said as Billy just shook his head. This was going to get him killed, he just knew it.

The first jolt that hit him took his breath away. The other days had been bad, but with all his powers taken there was no buffer to keep from him feeling the pain. He felt himself slipping away and desperately tried to fight it, but he couldn't. Only moments after the reintroduction began he was firmly passed out and barely out of a coma. Billy sighed and then pressed forward. Tommy may not have been his boss, but he was the most respected Power Ranger alive. There must be something he knew that no one else did.


	25. Chapter 25

"Where's Daddy?" Wyatt asked as Kim tucked him into bed for a nap. She was just as exhausted as the kids and knew that she'd crawl into her own bed if they'd let her.

"He has to work today," Kim said, calmly, as this had become Wyatt's favorite questions to ask, especially since Tommy had barely seen them lately.

"Why?" Wyatt asked as he rubbed his eyes in an attempt to stay awake and Kim just brushed back his hair. She didn't want to be reminded of why her husband was away at work, no matter what.

"Because he wants to keep you safe," Kim whispered as she placed her arms around him and he clutched to her.

"Okay. Mama?" Wyatt said as Kim had placed him back in the bed and tucked him again.

"Yes?" Kim asked as she stood up and looked down at him.

"I love you," Wyatt whispered as his eyes started to close his eyes and Kim smiled.

"I love you too, now take a nap," Kim whispered and she started towards the door.

"Mama?" Wyatt said as she turned back to look at him.

"Yes," Kim said as she felt the exhaustion truly hit her.

"Daddy loves you too," Wyatt said as Kim managed a smile and then turned off the lights and left the room. If only she could be a three year old again and be able to see the things that her heart didn't feel.

* * *

Billy stood in the lab and looked down at Tommy as much as he wanted to call Kim he also knew that he might be signing his own death certificate if he did this. The tests had proven, up until now that the full transfer would be hard, but he had never imagined this. Tommy's stats were fine, but he still had not woken up and that scared him. It had been over three hours since he had finished the drain and replaced his powers.

"Hello, Wolf Industries Laboratory, Chief Scientist Billy Cranston, speaking" Billy said as he picked up the phone and he heard a sigh that was vaguely familiar.

"Hey Billy, no need to be formal with me, I just have a quick question," Kim said as Billy felt his heart sink. He knew what she was going to ask, but he wanted a chance for her to choose to say something else. "Tommy promised he'd be home a couple hours ago and he's not answering his cell. Do you know where he is?"

"Yes," Billy said as he looked over at the cot where Tommy still lay unconscious and he took a deep breath. Kim was not going to like the condition that he was in when he got home.

"And…" Kim prompted, as she could feel Billy squirming on the other end of the phone.

"You're not going to like my answer," Billy whispered as Kim let out a sigh as she heard Chloe begin to cry.

"Just tell me Billy, before Chloe screams her head off," Kim stated as Billy let out a sigh.

"He passed out on the table in the lab. We did a full extraction and reintroduction today and it seems that he is suffering some adverse effects," Billy said as he just took a deep breath and waited for what Kim was going to say to him,

"Can you do me a favor?" Kim asked as Billy cringed, he knew that this could be bad.

"Sure," Billy said, he owed her, he really owed her after everything that he had done in the last week. He could hear the strain in her voice and knew that after everything else had happened, she couldn't take much more. She just needed her husband.

"Can you get him home?" Kim asked as Billy barely nodded his head on the other end.

"Do you want me to teleport him?" Billy asked as Kim walked into the nursery and reached over for Chloe.

"If you can, I'd really appreciate it Billy. The kids need him here, even if he's not conscious," Kim said as she felt her stomach heave and had to hold onto Chloe with all her might.

"You okay?" Billy asked as he heard her gag on the other end of the phone.

"No," Kim said as she placed Chloe back and the crib and ran for the bathroom. She then vomited into the toilet and tried to regain her composure. "I just need my husband."

"Okay, I'm going to send him, call me if he gets any worse," Billy said as he heard Kim start to gag again.

"I will," Kim said as Tommy was teleported into their bedroom and she gagged again before emerging from the bathroom and then crawled into their bedroom. "He's here now, I've got you."

* * *

Kim slowly opened her eyes as she heard the noise from the baby monitor and she groaned. Her eyes blinked sleepily as she looked at the window and noticed that it had already turned dark, letting out a groan as she forced herself out of bed and headed to Chloe's room. She was surprised Wyatt had not woken up earlier, but kept on walking to Chloe's room. She had to take care of the upset child first.

"Shh, it's okay," Kim said as she leaned down to pick Chloe up and then walked over to the rocking chair. She looked around for a blanket, since the house was freezing and then began to feed Chloe. "Tommy?"

"How'd I get home?" Tommy asked as he walked over to her and looked down at her. He could tell that she was worn out and she also looked sick, very sick.

"Billy teleported you, will you do me a favor and check on Wyatt?" Kim asked as he nodded and then reached down to give her shoulder a squeeze.

"We've figured out how to get rid of the powers for the kids, I'll be at home every night from now on," Tommy said as he saw a faint smile on her face and turned to walk out of the room. He knew that he still had a long way to go to get back in her good graces, but she was starting to forgive him.

Tommy walked down to Wyatt's room and slowly opened the door to peek inside, if he was sleeping soundly, he had nothing to do. He saw Wyatt's brown hair on the pillow and smiled as he took another step into the room. He was clutching his teddy bear and he let out a light snore. He couldn't understand why anyone would want to hurt their children, but they did. He took a quick look at his watch and realized if he didn't wake Wyatt up, he wouldn't sleep that night and they needed rest, Kim especially.

"Hey buddy, wake up," Tommy said as he shook Wyatt's shoulder and watched the boy wake up sleepily.

"Daddy?" Wyatt asked and he took in a shallow breath. The kids hadn't seen him in a long time and he felt horrible, absolutely horrible for what this had done to them as well.

"Yeah, come on, let's go downstairs and play," Tommy said as Wyatt bolted out of the bed and ran downstairs.

"I take it that Wyatt is awake," Kim said as she heard the boy's laughter and saw Tommy looking at her.

"Yeah, we're going downstairs, come on down when you get through with Chloe," Tommy said as Kim looked over at him and barely nodded. She watched as he walked out of the room and she smiled. She hoped that Tommy was right about all of this, she didn't want to risk this happening every time a new evil came about. She couldn't take that, knowing another child was on the way and that he or she would be born into this mess.


	26. Chapter 26

Kim and Tommy sat together down stairs with the baby monitor sitting between them. Tommy had a beer in one hand and held Kim's with his other. He could tell that she was still mad at him, but now she was willing to listen and judge whether or not she was going to stay mad. He hated these conversations, but he knew this one could not be avoided. She needed him and he had neglected that, it was something that neither of them could stand.

"What do you want to know?" Tommy asked as she leaned into him and he watched her eyes close as she got more comfortable.

"Just explain it to me, what we're going to have to do. If I have any other questions, I'll ask," Kim said as he rested his hand over the small bulge that was beginning to form in her lower abdomen and smiled as he thought about what the coming months were going to entail.

"You won't be doing anything until after this baby is born," Tommy whispered into her ear as she closed her eyes and sighed. She felt wonderful against him and he wished that he could make this up to her the way that he had in years past, but that was too dangerous now, much too dangerous.

"I could do something," Kim said as she looked up at him and he just shook his head. Her body couldn't take what he had gone through today right now, he couldn't risk losing her, no matter what she said.

"I've almost lost the both of you once, I can't do it again," Tommy forced out as his eyes watered over and he tried to bring his emotions back in check.

"Tommy…I didn't…" Kim whispered as she reached up for his face and gently brushed away the tears rolling down his cheeks.

"It's okay, you didn't know why I was pushing so hard to find this answer and now you do. What will happen is that the kids will be drained of their residual powers, that isn't painful, they'll probably just fall asleep," Tommy said as she barely nodded. She was glad that that was not going to hurt their children, but she worried about what was going to happen.

"The painful part?" Kim asked as his hands gently rubbed her side, every now and then grazing over the staples that held her skin together. Next week they would go to the doctor to get the staples removed and then try to go on from there.

"Having the powers put back in is pretty rough. You and I would carry their powers until they are old enough to decide whether or not they are going to take them back," Tommy said as she gritted her teeth as her shirt caught on one of the staples. "I got it."

"So that's the real reason I'm not doing anything right now," Kim said as Tommy pulled the shirt up high enough that it would not get tangled again and he resumed caressing her skin.

"Yeah and with Chloe we still have some time, we have to do this now or Wyatt will get hurt," Tommy whispered as his voice broke and she just wrapped her arms around him. She didn't want to think about the risk of losing either of their children.

"You'll be taking all the powers yourself?" Kim asked as Tommy barely nodded, as he didn't trust his voice at the moment and she just closed her eyes and laid there for a moment. "What about when it's Chloe's turn?"

"You'll do the same thing with Chloe," Tommy managed as he buried his face against her hair and finally let himself truly cry about everything that was going on.

"Okay, I can deal with this now. I was just having a hard time without you here this week. I've been hurting a lot and I'm so sick from the baby that…" Kim trailed off as he looked up from his spot on her shoulder and then groaned. He could not believe that he had been so exhausted to not even notice that his wife was in pain.

"And you didn't say anything to me," Tommy stated as she placed her hand on his thigh and she just looked up at him.

"Because I knew how important this was to you and I wasn't going to get in the way. I just didn't know why it was important," Kim said as he let out a long sigh and then pulled her closer. He really felt like an ass right now.

"I didn't tell you?" Tommy asked as he closed his eyes and prayed that she would tell him that he had, but he knew that he hadn't.

"Not really. I was so out of it at the beginning of the week that I don't remember much," Kim said as he let out a groan and she laughed. "Don't be so hard on yourself."

"Kim, I'm sorry. Life has been rough lately and I just forgot some things, more than just telling you about that," Tommy said as he gently kissed her neck and she shivered at the contact. He knew the things to do to make her entire body tingle in just one action and she could feel it again.

"You forget things when life isn't rough," Kim forced out as he moved away from the sensitive area and she let out a moan.

"I'll make that up to you when we can, I promise and thank you," Tommy said as he kissed her cheek and then looked over to his other hand. "You don't mind me having a drink tonight, do you?"

"You've had a bad week, I'll let you slide this time," Kim joked as she reached up and kissed his lips.

"I forgot my not drinking when you're pregnant rule," Tommy said as her hands steadied on his arm and he looked over at her.

"Yeah, but it's okay, you can make it up to me later," Kim said as his eyes narrowed in confusion. Why in the world would she suggest something like that when she was barely able to walk?

"The doctor said we couldn't…" Tommy began as she placed a finger over his mouth and he pouted.

"I just want a good back massage since I'm forbidden from taking any medicine stronger than Tylenol," Kim said as the pout disappeared and he smiled.

"That bad?" Tommy asked as she barely nodded her head. She was in enough pain to ask this without him offering and that was something that she rarely did. They let each other do things most of the time without even asking.

"Wyatt's heavier than you think," Kim explained as he looked up at the ceiling.

"Is there anything I haven't fucked up in the last week?" Tommy asked as she laughed at him.

"Don't worry Tommy, you'll make up for it and it's nothing that will damage our marriage permanently. This week has just been hard on the two of us," Kim said as he gently pulled her onto his shoulder and he sighed.

"I'll get the kids tonight, you need a break," Tommy said as she looked up at him in shock.

"Tommy, you've had a really bad day," Kim said as he placed his hands over hers.

"Come on, I owe you because of this last week. I'll get the kids tonight if they wake up," Tommy said as he pulled her up off the couch and he watched her face tighten in pain.

"You can't feed Chloe," Kim said as he scooped her up and she looked at him.

"Then I'll come wake you up, if that's what needs to be done you need some sleep after this week," Tommy whispered in her ear as she let out a light laugh and smiled at him.

"You're sure about this? You're not looking so great yourself," Kim responded as he shook his head.

"I am, you're worse off than I am, come on, just let me do this," Tommy said as he put her down in bed and she pulled him down on top of her. "Don't tempt me."

"Okay, hold yourself up and I'll roll over," Kim whispered as she got comfortable and he then started kneading the sore muscles of her back. He watched as her face relaxed and he smiled down at her. He knew that he was going to have a lot of work to do, but this would help get them back on the right track. No matter what she said, he felt that they needed to work on some things. This pregnancy was going to be rough, the beginning showed it.


	27. Chapter 27

Tommy woke up for the fourth time that night and looked over to see Kim standing up. Chloe was not having a good night and he was tempted to just bring her in there with them. Kim, however, pushed him back into bed and then left the room.

"Hey," Kim whispered as she picked her up out of the crib. "Why are you so fussy tonight? Huh?"

"I'd be fussy too," Griffin said as Kim looked over at him and held Chloe closer to her chest. "So, you really are pregnant. I'm surprised that the baby made it through everything that happened."

"You bastard," Kim said as she put up one arm and he held out his hand.

"Before you do that, you might want to see what's behind me," Griffin said as he stepped out of the way to reveal Wyatt standing behind him but unable to move. "Do you wonder how I did that?"

"No, I'm not surprised by much of anything anymore," Kim said as she concentrated on releasing Wyatt and the boy was able to run over to her.

"There's a reason we wanted his powers," Griffin said as Kim laughed as she watched him attempt to put up a force field. It didn't look like he was able to actually get the powers from Wyatt, he didn't have anything to hold them in, so they went back to the exhausted boy.

"No shit, but you don't want hers?" Kim asked as she threw out her arm and Griffin sailed through the window and she then pulled him back into the room. He wiped the blood from his face and just stared at her.

"She…has…" Griffin began as Kim put out her hand again and smiled at the man.

"You didn't do your research," Kim said as she swept her arm out and heard him screaming as he raced towards the ground, but Kim then gently lowered him to the ground and looked out the window.

"You save me?" Griffin asked as Kim laughed.

"The real rangers deserve to destroy you, not me," Kim said and she then walked away from the window and grabbed Wyatt's hand. "You okay?"

"Yeah," Wyatt said as he looked up at Kim. "I'm scared."

"It's okay, Mama and Daddy aren't going to let anything happen to you," Kim said as she walked through the dark hallway and held onto their children as gently as she could while being scared out of her mind.

"I'm sleepy," Wyatt whispered as he rubbed his eyes and Kim let out a shaky breath. Tommy was going to try to kill this person, she was sure of that.

"Why are the kids with you?" Tommy asked as his eyes opened to Wyatt climbing into bed next to him and he looked up at Kimberly.

"Another attack attempt, I think this would be better," Kim explained as he moved over and let Wyatt curl up next to him.

"What's wrong with Wyatt?" Tommy asked as he noticed how sleepy the little boy was, not that that was unusual at this time of night.

"They might have drained him, but if they did he got everything back," Kim said as Tommy just stared at her in shock and then pulled Wyatt closer to him.

"He looks like he's really tired, but I'll get Billy to check it out anyway, just to make sure," Tommy said as he reached over to put his arm around her and hold her close, at least as close as he could for having their three year old son lying between them. "Are you going to come into work?"

"I'm not sure, I'm still in a lot of pain and the stairs might cause a bit of a problem," Kim said as he nodded.

"You choose, you've got time to get well," Tommy said as she rolled over to her side and reached over for his hand.

"I still need to feed her, so I'll be back to bed in a minute," Kim said as Tommy nodded and then pulled Wyatt in closer. It would be over his dead body that someone would hurt his son.

"Okay, don't be too long," Tommy said as she smiled in the dim light and he laughed.

"I'll only be in the chair over there, don't worry, get some sleep Tommy," Kim said as she placed her hand on his and he smiled at her.

* * *

Kim woke up to a weight on her chest and looked to see Chloe there and Wyatt snuggled against her side. Tommy's arm was behind her and she could barely feel his fingers playing with her hair. She knew that Tommy would sleep for several more hours, but the kids wouldn't and she knew that she needed to get to the bathroom, immediately. It was simple to place Chloe on the bed, but she didn't want to wake Tommy and she knew she would.

"You okay?" Tommy murmured as he barely saw her slip into the bathroom before hearing her gag. Chloe and Wyatt were sleeping soundly and he got out of bed and walked over to the bathroom. "Kim…"

"It's just the baby, you know how this is," Kim muttered as he got a rag and wet it before placing it on the back of Kim's neck.

"Yeah, I do. Do you want anything?" Tommy asked as he helped her to her feet and she slumped against him.

"To go back to bed and sleep for several more hours," Kim said as he looked over at her and she cringed at how the staples in her stomach had pulled from heaving.

"Not going to happen is it?" Tommy commented as Kim barely shook her head no.

"Not in your wildest dreams. Is it our weekend to host the guys?" Kim asked as Tommy barely nodded his head yes and she let out a groan.

"Yeah, I've got to go grab some groceries this morning or you can if you want," Tommy said as he sat her down on the edge of the bed and she winced. "You're still sore?"

"I don't know, I'm still too weak to do too much," Kim said as he placed his arm around her and she leaned back.

"You want any time alone today?" Tommy asked as she gave him an odd look. Why was he asking that?

"With you?" Kim asked as he gave her a faint smile, he wanted that too, but they couldn't have it at the moment.

"No, just by yourself today," Tommy said as Kim just shook her head no. She knew how long it would take him to get groceries with the kids with him and she wasn't going to put him through that.

"I'd like a day with just you when we can be alone, when you can hold me, hold us. You haven't done that yet, like you did with Wyatt and Chloe," Kim said as his arms went around her and he held her close.

"After I get Wyatt's powers, we'll leave them with my parents for a weekend, it'll be just you and me," Tommy said as she looked over at him and smiled over at her.

"You are too good to be true sometimes," Kim said as her head rested on his chest and he smiled down at her.

"So are you, I'm going to go grab what we need. Sleep if you can, I'll be back soon, I promise," Tommy said as he kissed her temple and she then disentangled herself from him.

"I love you," Kim said as she stood up and gave him a quick kiss.

"I love you too," Tommy said as he dressed and then headed towards their bedroom door. "Kim…"

"I've got the kids, don't worry, I should be fine," Kim said as he nodded and then hurried to leave the room. The quicker he got the stuff he needed, the quicker he would get home to his wife.


	28. Chapter 28

Their house was full that night as the first rangers and present rangers met. The ones who knew the mentors the best knew that they were exhausted and that Kim was still in pain, more pain than she should have been in.

"Daddy!" Greyson yelled as he ran into the room and clutched Jason's legs before Jason leaned over and picked the boy up.

"What's wrong?" Jason asked as the boy placed his hands on Jason's shoulders.

"There's a man in the backyard," Greyson said as Tommy looked over at them and then took a step closer.

"Tommy…" Jason started as he watched the former leader bolt for the door.

"I'll be right back," Tommy said as he stopped by and quickly gave Kim a peck on the cheek.

"Be careful," Kim whispered as she watched him continue to run out of the house.

"I will be," Tommy said as he opened the door to the backyard, where he threw out force fields over the children and then ran for the man. At the moment he trapped him the man stared in shock, he had been sure that the rangers yielding those powers would not show them so quickly. "You bastard."

"You left your wife alone, too bad that she's in trouble now," Griffin said as Tommy's eyes narrowed. He would kill the man if he laid one hand on Kimberly.

"If you so much as touch her…" Tommy threatened as he moved closer to the man. "You have no idea what I could do to you."

"I've already tried to kill her, I will succeed eventually, I will," Griffin said as Tommy fought to keep his temper down. He really wanted to kill this man.

Tommy then charged him breaking the field around him and lashing out with the one skill that would never leave him. The other rangers got their children inside and Kim walked out. They could feel the energy radiating off of her and Tommy looked back at her. He had seen that look before and knew that it did not mean anything good.

"Go inside Kim, I can handle this," Tommy said as he looked back at her and he knew that she was not going to, even if he tried to make her.

"You son of a bitch…" Kim yelled as she threw her arm out and the man sailed across the clearing and into the nearest tree. "Last warning or I will kill you."

"I can't be killed by your powers. The rangers will have to fight me," Griffin said as Kim just shook her head.

"I can still hurt you," Kim muttered as she picked her hand up and slammed him into the tree again.

"I'll kill your pathetic rangers," Griffin stated as he looked over at Kim.

"We'll be ready," Tommy murmured as the man disappeared as he looked back at Kim and she promptly collapsed. "Kimberly…"

"I'm okay," Kim said as her hand rested over her stomach and he saw the fear in her eyes.

"The baby?" Tommy whispered as he placed his hand over hers and she took in a deep breath.

"I don't know yet, just let me sit still for a little while," Kim said as she closed her eyes and he wrapped his arms around her.

"Don't do that again," Tommy whispered in her ear as he clutched her hand in fear.

"He was going to kill you," Kim whispered into his ear as he strengthened his arms around her and his chin rested on top of her head. He rocked her back and forth until he felt the presence of another person near-by. It didn't matter who it was, they didn't need to be there right now.

"Dr. O what do we have to do?" Claire asked as Tommy looked back at her and she just tried to keep herself from running away. He looked absolutely furious, although she did not know if it was with her or if it was with Griffin.

"After supper, once I get all of them in bed and settled in for the night, we'll talk about it," Tommy said as Claire barely nodded and then left. She could tell that this was something that he was best at handling alone.

"I'm okay Tommy, just take me upstairs and put me in bed," Kim whispered as he watched her wince again.

"Okay, I'll keep a hold of you until you're ready to move," Tommy asked as she just stared at him.

"Don't be rude to the others, but can you please…" Kim trailed off as he smiled.

"I'll bring you supper and stay for a little while. The other girls will probably come talk to you some after they eat. You know I have to help plan the battle," Tommy whispered as she barely nodded. She knew all the responsibilities that he had and she didn't want to be reminded of them.

"I know and you'll do a good job. I love you," Kim said as she leaned back against him and he relaxed.

"I love you too, but I need to get you upstairs, are you okay for me to move you?" Tommy asked as she tensed again and he then reached stood up and leaned down to pick her up.

"You can," Kim said quietly as he pulled her up into his arms and she rested against his shoulder. "I'm sorry that I caused you to worry."

* * *

Tommy sat down on the floor and let out a sigh, the rangers who wanted to plan and the current rangers sat around the living room. Kim, Kat, and Aisha were up stairs, they had dealt with enough fighting in their lives.

"So, what are we doing?" Morris asked as they all looked over at Tommy. He was the leader here, they had to trust that he had something planned.

"I haven't figured it out yet, a lot of it depends on the truth that I can't fight, I can't help you," Tommy said as they all looked at him in shock. "I can't defeat him, neither can my wife."

"You were doing a good job out there. I'm not sure if he's telling the truth. It seemed like it could have been a bluff to me," Jason said as Tommy nodded. He could see how it might be a bluff, but he could also see how they were dead serious.

"Can you be sure though?" Tommy asked as Jason shook his head no. None of them could be sure that it wasn't a bluff.

"No, none of us can be sure that he's bluffing. Either of you could take him out with the proper motivation I don't think you want that though," Billy said as Tommy barely nodded. It wouldn't be good if they lost something important to them, because they couldn't get that back.

"Yeah, because proper motivation would mean a death to come in my family," Tommy said as the rangers just stared at them.

"I know and none of us want that to happen, especially now. The two of you can't lose each other or the kids," Trini said as she placed a hand on Tommy's shoulder.

"So it's them that I have to trust to protect my family," Tommy said as he looked out at the rangers and they just stood there in shock.

"I'd say yes, but you'll be fine. The kids are good at their job, you just have to trust them," Jason said as Tommy let out a sigh. He trusted the kids, the problem was that Kim was going to have a hard time with this.

"I do, convincing my wife to might be a problem," Tommy said as the kids look over at him.

"So what are we doing tonight?" Morris asked as Tommy looked around at all of them, it should be simple, but it probably wouldn't be.

"Training the likes of which you have never seen before. It's a gauntlet of former rangers," Tommy said as the kids looked at him in shock and he just smiled.

"You're serious?" Claire said as Tommy nodded. All the rangers here were more than qualified to spar with them and were more than likely to kick their ass every time.

"Absolutely, they're after my wife now. I'm ready to kill him myself, but I can't do that. Not for the reason that I want to. My will would do it, so would every power in me, but that isn't what this is about. If I do that he'll kill my family and I can't have that happen," Tommy said as the rangers barely nodded. Kim was not going to like this, but it was their only choice.

"You trust us with that?" Claire asked as Tommy took in a deep breath.

"I have no other choice, I've got to trust you, otherwise they'll kill me or the babies or my wife. None of that can happen, I can't lose Kim or the kids, neither can she," Tommy said as the kids barely nodded. They were scared to death, but they'd manage it.

"Are you sure?" Morris asked as Claire settled next to him and she closed her eyes.

"Yes, I have to be," Tommy said as he stood up and he gave her a long hug.

"So are we going to spar now?" Jason asked as Tommy barely nodded.

* * *

Kim sat in her bed and cried as the waves of pain and nausea passed through her. She had pushed herself too hard today and now she was paying. Kat and Aisha had left her to watch after the kids and she just let herself cry. Tommy would not like seeing her like this, but she couldn't deal with it anymore. She was in that much pain.

The pain finally started to ebb at about ten o'clock, but the nausea wouldn't stop. She tried to push herself up and she abruptly fell to the ground as her feet touched the floor. She slowly crawled to the bathroom and leaned over the toilet. When the bile rose in her throat this time, she finally allowed herself to throw up, but by that point she was too weak to make it back to bed.

In her weakness, she simply laid down in the bathroom and quietly fell asleep. Her body was still pulsating from the power exertion today and she could feel the staples pulling from the dry heaves earlier today. She needed Tommy, but she knew he was doing important things, things that could save their children.

"Kim…" Tommy whispered as he walked into their bedroom and saw the bed was empty. He checked the kids room before finally checking their bathroom and letting out a sigh. He quietly picked her up and noticed the stain of blood on her shirt.

"Tommy, I'm sorry, I pushed myself too hard today," Kim said as he held her close.

"It's okay, it's for the kids. I've got to get you a bandage for that," Tommy said as she groaned and he just looked at her. He knew that she was scared, really scared.

"I'm so sorry," Kim muttered as he placed her down on the bed and then walked back over to the bathroom to pull out a roll of gauze.

"Kim it's fine, you're going to be fine," Tommy said as he walked into the room and then pulled up her shirt to wrap the gauze around her.

"I just…you were going to die," Kim whispered as he gave her a kiss on the cheek and then gently tugged on the bandages.

"And you saved me, stay in bed and I'll be right back," Tommy whispered as he just watched her.

"Okay, I love you," Kim whispered as he smiled at her.

"Me too," Tommy whispered as he watched her relax and immediately fell asleep clutching his pillow to her chest and he sighed. She was not going to like seeing the blood on the pillow in the morning, but he couldn't take it away from her.

When he came back upstairs he silently changed her shirt and looked at the bandages he had just placed, they were already tinged pink and he sighed. He placed a new bandage over her wound and kissed her cheek before he set about changing. His shirt was the first thing to drop to the floor, followed by his slacks. He looked down at his abs and sighed, he generally gained about ten pounds with Kim pregnant, not that anyone could tell, his muscles were still more defined than most others, but he still didn't like the excess weight.

He smiled as he looked over at Kim and let the memories overwhelm his senses. The first time that she had ran her hands over his body, the feel of her delicate touch and the way she seemed to only quench his hunger long enough for him to be sated. He couldn't get enough, no matter how hard they tried. He then let out a sigh knowing that it would be several months before she'd be healed enough to go back to normal, but it would be worth it.


	29. Chapter 29

"Kim! How are you doing?" Janie asked as she walked into the lab a few weeks later and she smiled. She felt better, but now the pregnancy was starting to pull on her injured muscles and it was causing pain again. Tommy had been paying extra attention to those areas lately, but it still hurt, a lot.

"I've been better. Is Tommy in the lab?" Kim asked as she placed her hand over her lower abdomen and she saw Janie smile. Most of the employees here were excited that there was another baby on the way, but Janie was more than most.

"I think so, he hasn't passed by this way in awhile," Janie said as Kim barely nodded and then just shook her head.

"All right, thank you," Kim said as she walked on into the lab and was not surprised that it was completely empty. She walked to the back wall and pressed her hand against the bookcase and it moved quickly and she disappeared.

"Hey," Billy said as Kim waddled down the stairs and sighed as she reached Tommy. "You're already showing?"

"Yeah, I don't know why, but Tommy's happy, he always is when I start showing," Kim said as she looked around the room for her husband and noticed that he was nowhere to be found.

"Can I?" Billy asked as he reached out and she barely nodded.

"You're not going to feel him though, I'm just starting to feel him myself," Kim said as Billy just smiled. Katherine and him had agreed to maybe one more child, he just hoped that she would be willing.

"I know, but it's always amazing to see the changes in a woman's body when she's pregnant," Billy said as he removed his hand and smiled as she sat down in a chair.

"Is Tommy down here?" Kim asked as he gave her a quick glance. Why did he always have to give her bad news?

"No, there was an attack in Reefside, he went with them to help," Billy said as Kim stared at him. Hadn't he been told to stay out of this by the monsters themselves?

"Why?" Kim asked as she turned around to face him and Billy sighed. This was what they got for not telling her everything, but Tommy had insisted upon it.

"Because the kids need help and they're about to take them down," Billy said as Kim's eyes closed and she then sighed. Why did her husband always get himself into these sorts of situations?

"You're serious?" Kim asked as Billy turned on the computer screen and she just shook her head. Of course her husband was going to do this.

"If you want to watch, you can, but because I have to attempt to keep your husband from killing me, I will tell you that you should leave if it starts to cause any stress to the baby," Billy said as Kim barely nodded and then turned towards the screen. There was no way in hell that she was going to not watch, especially with her husband in such great danger.

Tommy rolled through the monsters as he worked his way through the crowd. The kids were focusing on the main monster; he was just keeping them busy. He watched the kids mangle the leader and Tommy just stood there in shock. As each ranger blasted and rolled through the man he smiled. It was actually going to be over.

"You bastard," Morris said as he lashed the man and he fell to the ground gulping for air as the red ranger stared down at him. Tommy then placed a force field around the man and watched as he slowly faded.

"Is that it?" Claire asked as they looked over to their mentor and Tommy barely nodded. If it wasn't then he could not imagine what would happen.

"Yeah, it's time to go home," Tommy said as the kids just stared at him and then teleported away. He smiled as he watched the colors fade and he just shook his head. It was over.

"That seemed too easy," Kim murmured as Billy barely nodded, but he also knew that the headquarters was up in flames. It was a wonderful day in the ranger world.

"I think he's right though," Billy said as a white streak materialized into Tommy and he looked over at his wife.

"You're sure he's gone?" Kim asked as she looked up at him and he walked over to her and pulled her out of the chair before giving her a heartfelt hug.

"We destroyed his power source, he's gone Kim," Tommy whispered as she clutched to him. She then pulled back to examine the damage that had been done to him, but other than a small scratch on his forearm he looked fine.

"And we'll be safe," Kim stated as his hands steadied on her and he barely nodded.

"Nothing will happen to the two of you," Tommy said as he leaned down to kiss her stomach and she relaxed into his touch as Billy just shook his head. He knew that the two of them had been lacking in certain areas of their relationship lately, but that had been because of her injury.

"If you two want the rest of the day off to care of anything…" Billy started as Tommy laughed as he stood up and looked over at Billy. Kim's face had gone red, but that wouldn't stop him.

"Twenty minutes alone will work," Tommy stated as Billy shook his head and Kim just sighed.

"Tommy!" Kim yelled as she smacked him gently on the shoulder and he smiled. He really just wanted his wife, that was it.

"Take the afternoon off the two of you deserve it," Billy said as they looked over at him in confusion. Why would he give them time off?

"Thank you," Kim said as Billy barely nodded and then walked out of the room. He did not want to see anymore, just in case they couldn't make it home.

"I'll even take the kids for the night so that you and Kim can have a night alone. Tomorrow the rest of your life begins," Billy said as he stood at the door and they stood in shock. Why were things changing?

"What do you mean?" Kim asked as she looked back at Tommy. He looked just as shocked as she did to hear that omission.

"We're retiring you tomorrow, no more mentoring, a way to hide the powers, a life without being a Power Ranger, except for advice to the rest of us," Billy said as Kim just smiled at Tommy.

"How can you guarantee it?" Tommy asked as Billy just shook his head. Couldn't they just leave well enough alone?

"We've found ways, take the rest of the day off," Billy insisted as Tommy smiled at his wife and then nodded for Billy to leave.

Tommy watched as Billy left before he lifted Kim off her feet and carried her out of the room. Her hands remained behind his neck and she then pulled herself up to kiss him. He felt his resolve weaken and he gently pulled away.

"Not here, I want you in my bed," Tommy said as he watched her eyes and she sighed.

"Will we make it home?" Kim asked as she thought about the car and about how she felt his muscles tense. He wouldn't make it she knew that.

"You don't think that I have the will power to do that?" Tommy asked as she just looked at him and he took in a shaky breath.

"I know you don't, not after almost two months, but we can make it home a faster way," Kim said as she smiled at him and he laughed. She could not possibly be serious.

"Teleport?" Tommy asked, surprised that he would even say that.

"I have no problem with it, as long as it gets us home faster," Kim said as he just shook his head.

"Thank you," Tommy said as he kissed her and they disappeared and Billy just shook his head. At least they had finally put this behind them.


	30. Chapter 30

Tommy walked into the waiting room with a bundle in his arms and was nearly tackled by Wyatt before he squatted down to the little boy's level. It had been a long delivery but Kim was doing fine, better than could be expected actually.

"Brudder?" Wyatt asked as he peered at the bundle and Tommy smiled at him. He was going to make a very protective older brother some day.

"Sorry buddy, but you've got another sister," Tommy said as he heard the adults laugh as Wyatt gave Tommy a glare and he laughed too.

"Chloe?" Wyatt asked as he reached out and gently touched the girl's face and Tommy smiled. He loved his children and hopefully they would always love each other.

"No, this is Cara," Tommy said as Wyatt barely nodded and then Chloe toddled over to the three of them.

"I can't believe it only took a couple hours," Gina said as Tommy gave her a confused look. He had thought the labor had been long.

"She didn't get any medicine this time and she promised me that she wouldn't have any more kids once she had to have one naturally," Tommy said as Gina smiled and looked down at the baby in his arms.

"She's beautiful," Gina whispered as he looked over at his mother and smiled.

"Yeah she is," Tommy admitted as the others came to look over a the baby as well.

"I need to get back to Kim, she's exhausted, but I thought you'd like to see the baby," Tommy said as she smiled and nodded. He then turned to walk back out of the room. "Can you keep the kids tonight?"

"Yeah, that's not a problem," Gina said as she smiled and then watched them go.

"Kim…" Tommy said, hesitantly as he looked into the hospital room.

"She's all cleaned up, the two of you have a good night," the nurse said as Tommy approached the bed and sat down next to her.

"Thank you so much," Tommy whispered as he gently transferred the baby into her arms.

"She was worth it, she's beautiful," Kim said as she looked down at her and then reached to start feeding the baby.

"Get some rest after you feed her, I'll take care of her," Tommy whispered as she barely nodded and then continued taking care of the baby. She was glad to have her and she was also glad that it was going to be her last.

* * *

"Good to see you awake again," Tommy said as he ran his fingers through her hair and she managed a smile.

"Her powers were more forceful that Chloe's," Kim said as she winced and he slowly pulled her up so that she was able to sit.

"I know, but she's sleeping well in the next room, hasn't so much as cried," Tommy said as she smiled at him and he gave her a long hug.

"Wyatt and Chloe?" Kim asked as his hands rested on her thighs and she barely held herself up.

"Still at Granny's day care, it's only five o'clock, we've got a couple more hours before we have to pick them up," Tommy said as she reached up and gave him a kiss.

"I was out longer with Chloe's transfer," Kim said as he held her tight.

"I know, believe me I do, but you'll be fine," Tommy said as she gave him a quick kiss and then pulled away. "Harder this time?"

"A little bit, but I'll still be fine," Kim said as he nodded and then looked over at Billy. "You can go now if you want."

"I have a feeling this conversation is about to get x rated, I'll be going," Billy said as Tommy laughed and Kim just rested her head against him.

"We'll have a good night tonight," Kim whispered as he barely nodded, with any luck all of the kids would sleep well and they'd get a night together. "Of course, as long as no one wakes up with bad dreams or a need to be fed."

"They will, we'll tire them out," Tommy said as she laughed. She had no doubt that they would do that tonight.

* * *

_15 years later_

"I'll take them back Dad," Wyatt said as he looked over at his father. He could not believe that they were offering something like this.

"You don't have to, not if you don't want to," Tommy said, calmly, as his son just shook his head. Their parents couldn't do this anymore, it was wreaking havoc on their systems and the least he could do was help his dad.

"But I do Dad, it's fine. You've carried them longer than you should have had to," Wyatt said as Tommy barely nodded.

"I'm still afraid they might come after you," Tommy whispered as Wyatt shook his head.

"You and Mom don't need them to come after you either. I can deal with it now Dad, I promise," Wyatt said as Tommy nodded. He was glad his son was willing to do this, but he also knew that it was going to be hard on him to get a grip on it all.

"Tell your Mom I gave you an opportunity not to do it?" Tommy asked as he held out his hand.

"Deal, it's what the two of you deserve. A life without this."


End file.
